


Turn! Turn! Turn!

by Chuksha, HecatesKiss



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: A/B/O, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Beta!Neville, Explicit Language, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Masturbation, Multi, Mutual Masturbation, Neville Longobttom/Severus Snape, Omega!Severus, Rough Sex, Slash, Slow Burn Romance, They fought a war, Threat of Rape, Threesome, Top!Harry, Werewolf Attacks, alpha!Harry, bottom!Neville, bottom!Snape, courting, discussion of dark magic, explicit - Freeform, hints at sexual assault (not explicit), kind of rape apology because a/b/o dynamic but not really, mentions of torture, no slurs, ref to biphobia, ref to chauvinism, ref to homophobia, ref to misogyny, references to gory death, refrences to war, students with PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2018-12-25 03:18:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 125,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12026970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chuksha/pseuds/Chuksha, https://archiveofourown.org/users/HecatesKiss/pseuds/HecatesKiss
Summary: To everything, there is a season. Hogwarts has reopened, peace reigns but that doesn't mean that life is peaceful. Not for Harry Potter. That would be too easy.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This work is dedicated to AJ, who started discussing threesome fan fiction involving Neville with me one day when I was on a Snarry binge. Everything you see here is as a result of that conversation. That's right, AJ, it's your fault!

_To everything there is a season_ , _and a time to every purpose under the heaven:_  
_A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted;_  
_A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;_  
_A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;_  
_A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;_  
_A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;_  
_A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;_  
_A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;_  
_A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace._

_Ecclesiastes (3:1-8)_

OOO000OOO

 

Harry was starting to suffer under the strain of the season and it had only been a week. Attending classes with sixteen and seventeen-year-olds; most of whom were going through their first season, a few of whom were inadvertently presenting, was driving him to distraction. At least Ron was safe training with the Aurors, they had given him the week of his heat off so he didn't get himself raped if he couldn't stay masked. Hermione and Neville had become Harry's rocks, with neither of them maturing or presenting they managed to keep their heads in even the most dangerous situation. Hermione simply treated him as she always did and with that slight air of superiority she had perfected when she would stare quite primly, after slapping his arm to stop him eyeing up the twinky little omega from the lower seventh, as she reminded him sharply that he wasn't an animal and she wasn't going to let him act like one. But _dear Merlin_ that kid was asking for it. It must have been his first season but he had no air of innocence about him, he was flirtatious and teasing and if he sprayed in Harry's vicinity again Harry was going to take the little sod in hand and teach him why it wasn't a good idea to go around trying to get the attentions of any alpha who would look at him. _The little slut_. Harry wasn't even attracted to him just the kid's attitude pissed him off. He had no shame at all, most omegas at least understood the precariousness of their situations, they understood that when you're dealing with men who are hard wired to want you and prone to losing their minds if you push them too far teasing them is not a good idea.

 

Thursday afternoon, Harry was already grouchy as the suppressor was getting to dangerously low levels in his system but he couldn't take another dose if he wanted to be conscious and coherent in class tomorrow- and he had double potions in the afternoon so he had to be coherent. At least Ginny had taken that class as well so he had a reasonably competent partner and Snape controlled his scent. Harry hadn't said anything to anyone about Snape, it wasn't his place; the man clearly didn't want any attention no matter how much Harry's instinct was to take him, claim him, and protect him. He deserved to know what it was to be safe and protected after all he'd done for the war effort. Harry wasn't even sure Snape knew Harry had caught his scent, he didn't act like it and no one else seemed to have recognised him for anything other than another beta. Harry hadn't been stupid enough to ask, omega or not Snape was still a hard bastard with a reputation that Harry didn't want to try.

 

Neville kicked Harry hard under the table and he winced. His beta had a hell of a kick when he wanted to.

 

"What?"

 

"You're staring at that kid again," Neville muttered quietly as Flitwick demonstrated a Patronus charm. For once he'd been glad the DA still looked to him for guidance. Flitwick had even said anyone who could cast the spell could leave. He'd exchanged looks with Neville and they had agreed without a word. They were staying, professor Flitwick deserved an hour of their time. Of course, He'd zoned out the minute he'd seen the lesson objective on the board and cast the spell absently when called on.

 

"Neville he's presenting in the middle of a classroom," Harry snapped quietly, "he's not being subtle about it either." Neville pressed a hand on Harry's arm.

 

"Only ten more minutes Harry and we can get out of here," Harry nodded tightly, it was his last class of the day. He could manage that. Eventually, a bell rang somewhere and they started to pack up. Harry was glad to hear chatter as he pushed his quill and exercise book into his bag.

 

He was halfway out the door when he caught the scent, right next to him, impossibly close, strong. He nearly vomited. Something in him cracked, just slightly, just enough. He swung around and pushed the boy into the nearest wall. Several people yelled when they realised he had the teen by the throat, some drew their wands.

 

"You should have some self-respect," Harry growled out, voice low and dangerously hard, "and stay away from me, you're not what I'm looking for." Harry had been the only alpha in that classroom, the teen smirked at him and Harry was hit with a fresh blast of pheromones. It took all his will not to bend the teen over and take him, awful scent or not an omega was an omega and it was the season. The boy yelled when Harry squeezed his neck in warning. He tried to kick out but failed as he hands grasped at Harry's arm weakly.

 

"Present to me again, and I'll make sure no self-respecting alpha will ever touch you. Do we understand each other?" Harry loosened his grip slightly and the teen gasped for breath. The boy clearly knew what Harry was threatening him with because his eyes had gone wide and he'd started to whimper. "Are we clear?" The boy, Eric something-or-other, nodded frantically. "Good. Now get out of my sight." Harry had never been more grateful that the common rooms of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff house were so far apart.

 

 

 ..oO00Oo.

 

Harry rubbed his eyes tiredly and moved to stand.

 

"M'going to bed... Nev, Mione, gnite." He mumbled and they both nodded. Hermione shot a suspicious look at the clock, it was barely nine o'clock. Harry really was tired, there were two omegas in Gryffindor tower and at least one of them was struggling to mask himself this season. Harry wanted to be well asleep before Dennis came up to the dorm so the young omega could actually relax a little. He was trying and Harry had found him openly crying at least twice this week when he'd lost control of whatever power omegas had for hiding their scent and accidentally presented. Harry was sure at this point he could pick Dennis Creevey's scent out at a Quidditch match just because they had spent so long around each other. Dennis was muggleborn and he'd internalised a lot of the omegaism he'd heard from his year mates with no other information but the propaganda. Poor kid.

 

Harry climbed behind the curtains of his bed and laid down, maybe how tired he was might give him more than an hour's sleep before he woke with the raging hard on that wouldn't stop. He was not taking the chemical castration potion, that stuff made him feel pathetic and even altered his scent. This wasn't his first season; He shouldn't need such drastic measures to control his dick.

 

He settled back on his pillow and let out a small sigh of relief, it was nice to be able to breathe without getting a hard on because some omega was sweating three floors away- he was sure the house elves must have some serious spell work going on to purify the air in here during the day. He was dozing quite happily, letting his body recharge as his mind wandered freely. It didn't take long for his body to betray him and he found himself absently fiddling first through his trousers and then wriggling free and kicking them off to the bottom of the bed as he made sure his curtains were pulled properly shut. _Merlin_. That felt good as he stroked a well-practised hand down the hard shaft of his arousal.

 

He fantasised vaguely about deft hands and soft touches as he curled a finger behind his balls and stroked slowly, he liked a long languid wank once in a while instead of a quickie in the shower, knowing it would take several hours for his hard-on to come and go took almost all the pressure off. It was nice to lay back and imagine an eager omega, or even a beta if they fancied it (on the subject of betas, fuck Neville could kiss, maybe he'd be up for another round later? That snogging session in the shower the other day had been mind blowing!) settling between his thighs, teasing and drawing out the pleasure, a soft tongue over the tip, hot mouth around the shaft, _he could go for that_. An omega with a mouth, a bit of spark, someone who wasn't going to get on their knees and call him sir just because of a quirk of nature, someone who _demanded_ a little respect, a little care, someone it would be a pleasure to work on. Someone to have under him, tied maybe, someone whose body he could kiss and caress and work into a shamelessly eager little omega. Someone who might even try and push, just a token fight, someone he could smirk down at whilst he held their hands above their head and they'd nip at his neck as if warning him to _mind his manners_ even as they stopped struggling, someone who wouldn't just lay there and take him but would give themselves, who wouldn't just submit but would offer and present. Someone who'd make him earn their hole and would beg for his seed.

 

"Fuck!" The orgasm hit him out of nowhere and Harry slumped back on his bed, barely satisfied but pleasantly loose nonetheless when he caught his breath. He was just slipping to sleep after a lazy flick of his wand disposed of the usual after-party mess when he heard the commotion outside his curtains.

 

"It's alright Dennis, try to relax he can't get to you up here!" Someone was crying, Harry knew that scent, Dennis was terrified and Neville's weak attempts to calm him down weren't helping.

 

Harry reached out blindly and pulled on his trousers awkwardly from where he'd left them in a pile at the end of his bed. He scratched his head sleepily as he cast a quick freshening charm; mainly for the sheen of sweat that promptly wiped from his skin, they were teenage boys, trying to hide the evidence of his activities wasn't worth more effort than that.

 

"What's up?" Harry yawned as he pulled his curtain back. "Dennis?" Dennis must have been in bits because he actually flung himself at Harry's feet.

 

"Please, sir, please he's going to take me he's going to-" Harry knelt down and pulled Dennis to his feet quickly, he didn't want Dennis at his feet, Dennis wasn't his type and he wasn't Dennis' and they both knew it.

 

"Easy Dennis, just breathe, you're ok, you're safe here. You've got Neville and me here. No one's going to hurt you."

 

"But he said he wants me and he won't stop! He cornered me I barely got away he's going to take me and I'm going to-" Dennis was clinging to Harry like a frightened child and there were tears streaming down his face. "Please sir, please don't let him take me, he frightens me sir please-"

 

"Dennis!" Harry shouted over the boy’s hysterical rambling. Dennis stopped talking abruptly and his voice caught in a sound somewhere between choking and a hiccough. "Better," Harry praised absently, Dennis seemed to take heart, "who, Dennis? What happened?" Dennis was clearly counting his breathing, Harry smiled encouragingly as he tried not to breathe too deeply. The whole room was saturated with Dennis' scent where he'd stopped masking in his panic. Harry didn't blame him.

 

"He- he called me a slut, told me I've been teasing him," Harry tensed, Dennis was a lot of things but a cocktease wasn't one of them, "I swear I haven't, but he said I had, told me I'd learn my lesson and he'd teach me. He had me, right outside the common room." Harry could feel the urge to protect rising, Dennis was still a kid, who the fuck did that to a kid in their first heat? "He said I've been teasing him at night, that he was sick of sleeping in the same room as me and smelling me, but I don't- I didn't realise he was-?" Harry nodded, keeping track of three years’ worth of male Gryffindors wasn't easy and Harry wasn't sure he could guess accurately who the other alpha was. Whoever they were they weren't that powerful or Harry would have recognised them by now, especially in peak season. He was starting to feel like he might just claim Dennis anyway, to keep him away from the pathetic bastard who thought chasing none-consenting first timers was fun.

 

"Did you think you could hide from me, little one?" Harry whipped around, shielding Dennis with his body, hackles raised; he could smell it. Hard and metallic and he'd never been this close to another mature alpha before and he didn't like having them in _his_ territory! The scent was barely there, but it was enough. Harry was tired, stressed, had just had his afterglow interrupted by a crying omega and now this. _Well, fuck that_ if he wasn't allowed a quiet year at Hogwarts he was going to make it interesting. He let out a low snarl of warning.

 

"Back. Off." The younger man took a step forward, he was in Ginny's year- the upper seventh. He had a swagger like Lockhart and was about as smart. Harry had mostly ignored him until now.

 

"What you going do, Potter, disarm me?" He was actually taunting, Harry had forgotten what it was like having someone who didn't either bow and scrape to him as the man who killed Voldemort or actively avoid pissing him off for the same reason. It brought a red mist down so fast he didn't realise he had stepped forward until he was holding the other alpha’s shirt.

 

"I will kill you if you touch him without his consent, he's under my protection. Understood?" The boy tried and failed to sneer as he seemed to realise that he’d picked the wrong alpha to challenge. "His brother fought with me, which makes him _my pack_." Harry actually heard Dennis cry out in shock at Harry's declaration, he didn't care. Dennis was a kid, he needed protecting and Harry was in a position to do it. Colin had laid down his life fighting against Voldemort, the only reason Dennis hadn't gone the same way was that Colin had sent him home before sneaking back in. Harry owed that family, he couldn't bring Colin back but he could protect Dennis as best he could.

 

"Harry you're choking him!" Neville's voice barely registered, Harry just didn't care and he said as much. "Harry, stop, you're not thinking straight!" Harry batted Neville's first attempt to pull him off away effortlessly in his rage, but Neville wasn't stupid, he knew Harry and he knew what Harry was prone to doing if he slipped into a frenzy. He knew Harry wouldn't be able to live with himself when he came back to his senses if someone didn't stop him. The blast of cold water made both Harry and the other boy yell out in shock. It was crude but effective. Harry jumped back gasping in shock and sopping wet. He was still angry but the moment’s distraction had given his conscious mind opportunity to intervene. Neville hit Harry with a drying charm just as quickly as Harry nodded his thanks, he was still seething but he wasn't foaming at the mouth.

 

"You!" Harry pointed at the young man accusingly. "Find somewhere else to sleep tonight, I don't care where as long as it's not here."

 

"But-"

 

"Come back and you'll find out exactly why they threaten Amycus Carrow with a visit from me when he won't shut up at night!" The threat was empty, or maybe it wasn't. Carrow had been what he was capable of in a moment of pure rage, of self-righteous indignation. He hadn't dragged it out. He'd gotten hard since then; he had no pity or mercy left to give. Too many people had died or been hurt because he'd hesitated and tried to do the right thing instead of the efficient thing. He'd never make that mistake again. The boy slumped and shot a wistful look at Dennis, Harry let out a ferocious sounding snarl and the boy left quickly.

 

"Harry, calm down, he's gone," Neville said slowly, the bloke had the patience of a saint putting up with Harry and his mood swings. Neville was probably the only person on the planet with the nerve to do what he did next who stood anything like a chance of getting away with it. He reached out and put his hand on Harry's neck. Palm down flat against the neck, thumb up just under Harry's jaw. Hermione wouldn't have dared and Harry would have torn anyone else's arm out of the shoulder socket for _daring_ to touch him like that. It was exactly what Harry needed. Neville stepped back carefully and he had Harry entranced, right where he wanted him, fixated on the hand on his neck and whatever was at the end of it. Neville had found the one thing Harry always responded to- sheer bravery. He led Harry sideways into the small bathroom the seventh year boys shared and closed the door.

-

"Do your worst Harry," Harry snapped out of it in a second.

 

"What?"

 

"You're wound up tight and Dennis can't mask all night, I'm here, do your worst."

 

"Neville I can-" Harry didn't have much chance to argue further as Neville's lips connected with his own and he was pushed back against the back of the door.

 

"Neville," Harry tried, Neville was a good kisser, gave a good hand job but they were friends, Neville was a beta, Neville was fast becoming his beta and that scared the hell out of Harry.

 

"Harry, come-on," Neville mumbled into his lips, "seeing you out there was fucking hot! You're not going to leave me hanging are you?" Harry couldn't help it, Neville cursing, Neville pushing and pressing against him like that, any blood that might have been supplying his head rushed straight to his cock.

 

Harry had his arms around Neville, fumbling with his clothes blindly, fuck he wanted Neville now and he didn't care how it happened. He slammed Neville into the wall as the last of his clothes fell away and Harry's own disappeared, sometimes having a willing beta who was decent at charms and wasn't prone to a frenzy in a temper was a fucking miracle from the gods. Harry pressed himself against Neville, heart hammering, he wanted and he wanted now! He slipped a knee between Neville's thighs and pressed his weight into Neville, forcing the man to bend his knees, forcing his beta into an almost sitting position with his back against the wall to hold him there facing Harry.

 

"Hold on," Neville mumbled, he wasn't an Omega he didn't get wet but there was a charm for that, there was a charm for everything! Harry growled playfully, dangerously, into Neville's ear.

 

"Mine!" Neville didn't submit, he didn't present, fuck that was hot. Neville liked this, he liked it rough, he'd mentioned a few times.

 

"That the best you've got?" Neville knew how to push Harry's buttons, to drive him wild, "if I wanted soft I'd go find a woman to fuck." Harry groaned, "are you a man or not?" It was sick and twisted and completely against their better natures, both, but the words pushed Harry forward and had found Neville stretched, ready, waiting and greedy for it despite the claim to the contrary. Harry bit down on Neville's neck, hard, Neville moaned and writhed under him and finally, he lifted his knees just so. "Please, Harry please," the soft keening, almost innocent sounding, almost submissive, so needy, Harry nearly spilt over Neville's thighs.

 

"Why should I?" He growled out harshly, "you should've been an omega, I'd knot you so hard you'd see stars!" Neville gasped and moaned, he liked it, he liked the force, the violence of it. Harry didn't question it, some betas were just wired that way.

 

"You haven't got the bollocks!" Neville gasped out, the way his body shifted and writhed belied the words and the soft gasp as Harry bruised his hip where he was grasping at it took the venom from his tone. "Harry! Fuck, get a move on!" Harry liked to see them squirm, to see them suffer and beg for it. If he could break a beta he could fucking own an omega and Neville could break so prettily if he had half a chance. Harry was about to give him one whether he wanted it or not as the hand not holding Neville to the wall cupped the betas cock and squeezed. Neville gasped and moaned and his head pressed back against the wall hard as he eyed rolled "Ha-rry!" His voice cracked and Harry squeezed again, drawing out a soft whimper, a whine.

 

Neville reached up blindly, pulled Harry towards him, pulled Harry's head by his hair and Harry dove right in, tongue sweeping expertly around Neville's mouth, taking and claiming and owning and fuck the world if they didn't like it Neville was his and they could fight him! Harry pressed forward and Neville let out a strangled half yelp and Harry squeezed the base of his cock, forming his fingers like a ring around it, stopping the orgasm in its tracks. Harry wasn't finished yet so Neville wasn't either.

 

"Harry!" Neville's almost yelp of frustration and the hand gripping the back of his hair pulled Harry in closer as he thrust, his body was acting of its own accord now, taking and twisting, pushing and owning and Neville was taking it like a champion.

 

"Neville I might-" knot, he might knot a beta, he hadn't realised that was possible but he knew his body and he knew that tension in his gut too well not to know what was about to happen.

 

"Do it!" Neville's breathless urging made Harry see stars, "Not in any danger... do it!"

"Nev," Harry wanted to but it was Neville, he wasn't designed to take it, he'd tear the other man apart and he couldn't- "fuck!" Too late. Neville made a sound like Harry had never thought to hear from anyone and he lost all control as his knot swelled inside Neville. It was too late to pull out and Neville wasn't letting him anyway.

 

"Harry, Harry deeper, fuck, never felt so full in my life!"

 

"Mine Nev," Harry wasn't thinking coherently enough to form a full sentence, he wasn't thinking about anything but how good it felt to have a hole to fuck and a willing body under his hands. He missed when Neville's gasps turned to whimpers, when his movements turned pushing instead of pulling, when he stopped moaning and started begging.

 

"Harry stop! Harry! Harry, you're tearing me apart!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Harry," Dennis asked meekly, he'd sidled up to Harry in the corridor and very discreetly cast a privacy charm around them, "he's in the class... I'm scared Harry it's a two-hour class and he sits right behind me." Harry exchanged a look with Ginny. She nodded. Harry was not in the mood today, he was missing Neville at a level well beyond friendship and Madame Pomfrey wouldn’t let him into the hospital wing to see his beta. It was driving him mad not knowing if Neville was ok after the condition he’d been in when Harry had claimed him.

 

"He won't touch you, Dennis, you'll partner with Ginny today, right up front where Professor Snape can keep an eye on you. And I'll take your seat. He'll have to go through me to get to you that way." Dennis swallowed, he seemed to sense that anyone who messed with Harry today might wish the only damage they had could be fixed with a short trip to the hospital wing.

 

"Thank you, sir, I-"

 

"Dennis we talked about this, I promised you my protection. You don't have to thank me for it." It actually made Harry quite uncomfortable when he did. The bell rang and the door swung open to reveal the potions classroom, Snape was already stood at the front. Harry waited back and kept his hand on Dennis' shoulder. They were the last ones in.

 

Snape fixed Harry with a look of surprise when he saw the way Harry was touching Dennis. Harry didn't say a word. It wasn't Snape's place to interfere as long as it didn't disrupt his lessons. Harry froze. The idiot boy had swapped seats with Dennis' usual partner. He smirked and nodded at his usual seat, nudging Dennis gently.

 

"Go on, take your seat, Dennis." Snape was watching them with apparent interest. Harry wondered how much the man knew of what was really happening here. Dennis stumbled to Harry's usual desk and Ginny started to help him unpack his things. The boy went white when Harry took his seat.

 

"You will follow professor Snape's instructions, keep your mouth shut, your hands to yourself. Understood?" Harry hissed as he set up his cauldron and pulled his textbook from his bag. "And count yourself lucky that today's potion only calls for _rat_ spleen." The boy didn't say a word for the whole two-hour lesson. He looked like he was about to pass out when Snape made him wait behind. Harry exchanged a look with the professor and the man nodded at him. Harry wasn't happy leaving this kid in a room with an unbonded omega no matter who they were but he knew better than to try and interfere.

 

"Mister Craven you will return to your usual desk in your next lesson in my classroom," Harry had hesitated by the door, "or you will find you are no longer welcome to study potions at Hogwarts. Do you understand?" Harry didn't hang around long enough for Snape to ask him why he was here, he'd heard enough. The fact that Snape hadn't said a word about Harry and Dennis switching told him everything he needed to know- Snape understood.

 

-

"Neville, how- how are you?" Harry climbed to his feet from the armchair he’d commandeered so he could brood over the fire in the Gryffindor common room. Neville was clearly hurting, hunched slightly and limping but he still managed a smile and leant into Harry’s one armed hug as Harry helped him into the still warm armchair he’d just vacated. "Madame Pomfrey wouldn't let me into the hospital wing," Harry admitted quietly. "Not that I blame her." Neville glared.

 

"Get over yourself Harry, you didn't do anything wrong."

 

"Neville, I-" Harry knelt in front of his friend, his beta, and lowered his voice. "I could've killed you!" He hissed, appalled that Neville didn't seem to care.

 

"What a way to go." Neville joked. Harry didn't find it funny. "Harry, you didn't do anything I didn't ask for, I knew you were close to a frenzy and I baited you. Don't beat yourself up about it, no one blames you." Harry felt sick. "Do you know how good it felt, how right being under you felt?" Neville insisted quietly. "Don't ever tell me that was wrong Harry, just don't." Neville wasn't an omega, he shouldn't be talking like this, "I might not be built to take you in a frenzy that doesn't mean you didn't give me the experience of a lifetime." Harry couldn't form a coherent response, he didn't know what to say.

-

 

"Harry," he lifted his head sleepily and half smiled at Neville in the darkness. He'd just woken, aroused again but not uncontrollably so, and apparently had woken his beta. Harry had stopped fighting it after the third night since Neville came back from the hospital wing.

 

"Alright, Nev?" Harry asked softly. Neville slipped out of his bed and into Harry's without a word.

 

"I was cold." He muttered. Harry laughed quietly and flung his arm around Neville. Neville's hand snuck between them and Harry's breath hitched when fingers curled around his hard on.

 

"Nev." Neville smiled against Harry's chest.

 

"You got potions in the morning, I've seen the way you look at Snape." Harry froze. Had he been that obvious? "And the way he looks at you."

 

"Nev.." Harry was struggling to form a coherent sentence with Neville so close, with his hand stroking so carefully. "It's Snape," Neville shook his head, he didn't stop stroking and Harry let out a low moan of pleasure.

 

"No he's not Harry, he's an Omega, he's probably the only omega who could keep you in check. Make him an offer." Harry gasped quietly; half in arousal, half in shock.

 

"But Nev you and hi..."

 

"I'm your beta, you must have realised that by now," Neville murmured quietly as he pressed his mouth against Harry's neck, Harry nodded, eyes squeezed shut against the sensations in his cock, "you and him, you'd be unstoppable and I wouldn't get in the way of that." Harry moaned quietly again. "I'd be here if either of you needed me, but you two-" Harry knew exactly how good they could be if he was honest with himself he'd been fantasising about Snape since the first time he'd caught the man's scent during the rebuilding of the school last year. Snape was everything Harry wanted in an omega except for the fact that he was far too proud to submit to Harry. They had too much history.

 

"He'd kill me for even suggesting-"

 

"No he wouldn't, try it." Harry gasped as Neville pulled the orgasm from him and kissed a soft spot on his neck. "And I'll be right there to tell you I told you so when he offers you his soul bond." Harry sighed and snorted at Neville's words. It was just beginning to dawn on him that his beta was insane.

 

-

 

For the third time in almost as many minutes Potter nearly blew himself up and despite all previous experience, Severus couldn't find it in himself to chastise the young man. Why he'd chosen to return to Hogwarts and finish his education was a mystery the staff betting pool was still debating well into November. The last year with no dark lord and no Albus had been difficult for Severus, he had returned as a favour to Minerva after the school finally reopened and he had an inkling she thought she was helping him by stopping him having the opportunity to go out and finding the most powerful wizard who would have him. Of course having the most powerful wizard for five generations in his classroom four times a week wasn't exactly helpful, especially when this wizard was well matured and not technically a student. Somewhere several floors above a bell rang and the class began to pack up as Severus absently set homework.

 

"Mister Potter, remain behind." No argument for once, good, Severus was too tired to argue. Eventually, they were alone, it would be so easy to forget himself, to throw himself at Potter's feet. "Is there a particular reason you were so distracted today." Potter wouldn't look at him.

 

"Probably for the same reason you were sir." Severus pinched the bridge of his nose tellingly. He wasn't in the mood for theatrics. "Didn't sleep well, I haven't since Halloween..."

 

"Why?" Severus asked shortly, bluntly. Nightmares were expected, Potter should have asked for a potion-

 

"Inheritance keeps me awake at night with cravings during the season." Severus eyed the young man carefully, there weren't many inheritances that were affected by the season. He'd seen Potter with the Creevey boy, _Potter couldn't be craving more than that eager little omega, could he_? "I went to Madame Pomfrey for a suppressor but it makes me so violently ill I don't sleep when I take it anyway then when I do sleep I have nightmares." Potter hesitated. Of course, he was dominant, it was probably for the best; Severus doubted Harry would be able to mask himself even if he tried the boy was so powerful. "I do still take the suppressor once a week, keeps me sane." He offered as if expecting such an admission to ease Severus' worry, surprisingly it did. Apparently, Potter was actually being an adult about it and that was vaguely reassuring. And then he realised what he'd just heard Potter admit to.

 

"Stop taking it, you are allergic to something." He demanded harshly.

 

"Can't, need something to control the instinct to claim. After what I nearly did to Neville week before last..." Severus winced, he could just imagine what Potter might have almost done, he almost pitied Longbottom surviving that. "I can't let that happen again no matter what he says." Severus didn't see the point in arguing, Potter was clearly determined.

 

"Demand an allergy screen," he advised quietly as he tried to keep track of his thoughts and ideas, "bring me the results, we will see if we cannot alter the potion."

 

"I can't ask you to do that." Potter began to say, Severus lifted a hand to stop him and he cut off abruptly.

 

"You are not asking, I am a potions master, it is my duty to see to the medical needs of the inhabitants of this castle... you are one such, are you not?" Potter didn't answer.

 

"When you've recovered from the season, then, don't make yourself sick on my account. I can deal with the one I have for now. It does its job." Severus could only wish there was such a potion for one such as him, Merlin knew he'd experimented enough trying to find one in the last twenty years.

 

Severus slumped, this was too much, too difficult. He couldn't stand here bold as brass before a dominant Alpha male and maintain the facade that he wasn't a wreck. Potter took a halting step forward. Severus actually flinched as a shadow fell across his face, he couldn't help it, he wasn't used to touch.

 

"You're hurting." Potter still had a habit of stating the obvious.

 

"Mister Potter it is prime season and I am an unbonded male, do not state the obvious." The young man went to touch him again and then pulled back when Severus made no move towards him. At least he respected that.

 

"You are a student," Potter made a bitter sound, too low for a laugh.

 

"I'm too old to be a student, that's why they made me a resident academic, remember?" Of course, Severus remembered, they had done the same with Granger and Longbottom. No one else had come back from their year, No one else had had the nerve "aside from which, your students have noticed some things as well.... surely you have someone?" Potter asked suddenly, desperately. Severus let out a low bitter sound; of course, he didn't. "A friend, someone you could sit with who wouldn't take advantage?" Potter was still talking in general terms, holding himself back and tempering his words, as if he were afraid of offending Severus. It made a nice change from being snarled at and looked at like he was an animal or a piece of meat on offer to whosoever fancied a go.

 

"When have I ever struck you as the kind of man who cultivated friendships?" Severus sniped. It wasn’t actually a question and Severus was vaguely grateful that Potter hadn’t taken it as one.

 

"Fair point," Potter was eyeing him like he were a delinquent child and it was disconcerting, unlike most people it didn't seem to bother him and he was being entirely too polite about it, "you look dead on your feet."

 

"You would know." Severus sighed and slumped in silent apology the moment the words left his lips, he'd always been rather vicious when he was tired, more so than usual and when his hormones began raging he was worse than a dragon with a sore eye.

 

"Exactly, and seeing you like this in my nightmares is more than enough, thank you, professor." Severus found himself struggling to focus, there was something important he'd meant to do but he was just so tired all the time these days he couldn't think. His eyes refocused on a shelf of vials and bottles and something clicked.

 

"Pepper up," he managed weakly, he could barely stand as he leaned back against his desk and searched blindly in the drawer. He always kept a spare pepper up in there, especially during the season. He tried to step away and stumbled. His whole body felt like he'd been submerged into a warm bath when Potter touched him. _Dear gods the young man was powerful._

 

"You're in no fit state to teach," Severus snorted, he'd taught in much worse condition than this. _Yes, but you had Albus to watch whilst you rested_ ; his sleep deprived mind supplied traitorously. "You didn't even yell at me for making a first-year mistake,"

 

"I have neither energy-"

 

"Exactly and you've got fourth years next, you really want to deal with them like this?" Potter still hadn't let go of him.

 

"I am not a child to be coddled Mr Potter, please desist at once." He didn't have the will to pull his arm away and it somewhat belied the venom in his tone when he sighed tiredly.

 

"I'm not coddling you I'm trying to help."

 

"If you wish to help mister Potter then I recommend removing the sticking charm on my classroom door and admitting the fourth year class that is congregating on the other side before they- urgh," he'd completely lost his train of thought halfway through speaking. _Fucking hormones_! "Just let them in here and leave before they kill each other in the corridor."

 

"No."

 

"Mister Potter!" Potter actually laughed at his tone. "I have a responsibility to my students...”

 

"You have a responsibility not to drop dead from exhaustion on us professor, the war's over remember, there's no need to push yourself so hard. You need to rest..." Harry tried to keep his tone soft, kind, not to dominate the conversation.

 

"I will rest this evening when the work day is complete." That wasn't strictly true, he'd try to relax and his body would demand sleep but he would not rest, not properly.

 

"I can't believe I'm saying this to you, but you're a terrible liar, sir."

 

"Potter," Severus ground out, "fourth years. Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. Outside my classroom. Right now." Potter actually managed to look concerned. "Inevitable Bloodbath..." he was struggling to form full sentences now.

 

"Sit down, professor, I'll get rid of them." Potter actually pushed him into his desk chair and held up the vial Severus couldn't remember laying hands on up to the light.

 

"Sealed, one of yours," Potter said as trying to reassure Severus as if he wasn't being poisoned. Severus managed a weak nod as Potter twisted off the top, honestly, he didn't really care though, and if he was poisoned he might sleep for more than an hour at a time. "Stay there and Drink that." Severus managed a weak smirk.

 

"Is that an order Mister Potter?" The young man kneeled in front of him.

 

"Yes." Severus slumped, Potter probably had no idea how good it felt to have someone take over, just for a moment until the pepper up kicked in...

 


	3. Chapter 3

Harry watched Snape drink the potion critically, even half asleep he wasn't an easy man to keep up with in a conversation- especially when your instincts were fighting your good sense and common decency and his scent was entirely distracting. Snape barely seemed to regain any colour as he ears smoked. Harry turned to the door and heaved it open. He couldn't believe he'd ever been as small as the fourth years who were waiting in the corridor. He'd been entered into the Triwizard tournament at their age, it horrified him how young they looked for something like that.

 

"-throw a fit if we were ever this late!" Harry eyed the Gryffindor boy who hadn't shut up in time to keep his conversation private. Harry glared at the blond boy.

 

"Your potions class is cancelled." Harry sighed and waited for the mutters to die down. "You," he pointed at the boy who had been so vocal a second before, "will fetch the headmistress," Harry told him coolly, "you," he picked a Ravenclaw girl at random, "will fetch Madame Pomfrey, advise her that professor Snape requires her attention. The rest of you will return to your respective common rooms until your next class. Go." More muttering. Harry sighed. "If you are still here when the headmistress arrives I will personally advise her that none of you seems able to follow instructions!" That seemed to work and they started to move, except the exact boy Harry had sent to find her. "If I have to send a Patronus and it gets there before you professor McGonagall is not going to be pleased with the student who failed to go to her for help." The boy was glaring at him. "Especially one of her own," Harry added pointedly as he eyed the Gryffindor badge. The boy glared back at him.

 

"What's actually wrong with him?" Harry pinched the bridge of his nose, he didn't think he'd have ever been so belligerent.

 

"I don't know," Harry said slowly, "which is why your classmate is probably halfway to the hospital wing to find someone who will," Harry shot back, he sighed at the mutinous glare he received in response. "I don't care whether you like him or not, you're fourteen you're allowed to hate the strict teachers, it's your job. But think about this, you were here last few years, did he ever miss a lesson?"

 

"What's that got to do with-?"

 

"Answer the question!"

 

"Well, no,"

 

"Right, whatever's wrong with him then is worse than a night under Voldemort's wand because he can barely stand up." a few of them winced at his bluntness, Several of them went green, a few turned away and the boy Harry was speaking to had lost most of the colour in his cheeks. "Now do you see why the headmistress should probably know something's wrong?" The boy nodded. Harry waited but he didn't move. "Go!" The boy turned to move and Harry lost his temper. Several of the girls gasped or screamed when he raised his wand. His Patronus had the message and was around the corner of the corridor before the boy had taken three steps. "I really hope you didn't have any plans for the next few weekends." Harry snapped. "Back to your common rooms, move!"

-

"Easy professor, that pepper up doesn't seem to have done much good," it had done enough to get Severus to his quarters without landing face first in the alcove of a corridor somewhere to be found by the next passer-by. Potter had stalwartly refused to budge from his side until Poppy arrived and with his mind mostly addled from exhaustion Severus couldn't decide which one was the fussiest.

 

Potter kept touching him, chastely, supportively but touching him nonetheless. It was far too distracting when he was fighting to stay masked. Although judging by the look in Potter's eye he was picking up Severus' scent anyway. _When had Potter ever had the nerve to be so familiar with him?_ Severus was just glad to find his bed and sink into it. He didn't hear Minerva invade his quarters as Poppy poured a potion that tasted curiously like copper down his throat. He must have been weary to not be able to identify it. He knew it was one of his own, but that was it.

 

"He was getting tired in class, I nearly dropped lemongrass into a polyjuice base twice and he didn't even notice. If Ginny hadn't stopped me..." Harry shuddered. Polyjuice got explosive quickly in the early stages. "Held me back, he'd seen, but admitted he didn't have the energy to yell at me,"

 

"Didn't have the will you mean, Mister Potter, to face down a dominant male in the third week of the season?" Her tone suggested that the question was mostly rhetorical. Harry took a step towards the bed, Poppy placed herself in his way. Harry sighed. She knew what he'd done to Neville, it was probably a good idea for him not to get too close.

 

"No he had the will to snap at me, but he's exhausted, does he ever stop masking?" Snape mumbled something unintelligible in the bed. "He flinched when I stepped towards him, even with the suppressor in my system." Poppy eyed him suspiciously. "I took it Saturday night as usual." Poppy and the headmistress exchanged looks. Severus Snape didn't flinch from anyone.

 

"We all knew this season would be difficult," Minerva said softly. "Although, I was expecting Severus to bear it as he always has."

 

"With a scowl and an iron will?" Harry asked wryly. Minerva pursed her lips but nodded all the same. "I think he meant to, _Merlin knows_ he argued against me sending his fourth years away enough." Harry looked down again, Snape was pale and sickly looking- even more so than usual for this time of year. "May I?"

 

"You must control yourself Mister Potter, your instincts are strong." The headmistress told him sharply.

 

"Will I always be Mister Potter when you're stressed, headmistress?" Harry asked. He wasn't a student, he could get away with it. She couldn't take points from his house when he didn't technically have one anymore. "Of course I'll control myself, managed fine before you arrived." He pointed out somewhat snidely. Harry perched himself on the edge of the bed. "He seems so stuck on trying to be in control and hide."

 

"Wouldn't you?" Poppy asked quietly, she knew what Harry did to keep himself under control so it wasn't a question she expected an answer to. Harry sighed, as difficult as it was for him to let anyone control any aspect of his life anymore he couldn't imagine having to fight every instinct every day of it just to function like a normal adult. And Snape had done it for twenty years. The thought hit Harry like a bolt from the blue.

 

"Dumbledore."

 

"What?" Minerva's sharp response might have been question or rebuke or both. Harry wasn't sure.

 

"I'd bet my Gringotts key-" Harry started to say and cut off. Snape had deliberately avoided answering the question. Sneaky bastard. He considered it for a moment before deciding it was worth upsetting the headmistress if he proved his point. "He's exhausted, watch..." Harry said quietly. He leaned over Snape's form and the man half curled in on himself in the bed, his instincts pushing him to submit to the powerful wizard even as he floated on the edge of consciousness. "Severus, I'm cancelling all of your classes tomorrow-"

 

"Nt be stupid, Albus.. be fine." Harry shot a look up at Poppy who didn't seem fazed. She knew then and Harry's guess had been correct. Snape had taken Dumbledore for a master. Probably Voldemort as well. Harry suddenly felt extremely sorry for the man having to live like that; throwing himself at whoever would take him and pledging obedience just to stay sane. No wonder he'd ended up a death eater; the idea of being marked and owned must have seemed like utopia to the eighteen-year-old newly matured omega.

"No bond there," Harry surmised as he considered it, "but enough of a friendship," he guessed. Poppy nodded and started packing up her things. She didn't question how Harry knew Snape had never been claimed, not properly, and Harry was glad for the moment of discretion. Minerva had gone curiously pale, "has he ever had a soul bond?" Harry wasn't just asking out of idle curiosity

 

"I doubt it," Poppy admitted, "although he may not have told me or anyone else if he had." She paused. "Someone should stay with him tonight, ensure he doesn't get into difficulty." A beat. "Not you Mister Potter." She added. Harry glared right back.

 

"Who else is there?" She didn't back down. "Can you send me down an extra suppressor and a dose of wakefulness water?" He asked as if she hadn't objected at all. Poppy and Minerva exchanged glances.

 

"A house elf will be sent every hour," Harry sighed, he deserved that at least and if he were honest it was a relief to have that backup, "they will be instructed to apparate into Severus' kitchen," she nodded at a door, "so as not to wake him."

 

"If he's even sleeping," Harry added softly. She didn't answer. "Will you warn them what to expect? I don't want an elf killing me for trying to help him if he starts to present." An intake of breath.

 

"You think he will?" Minerva asked sharply.

 

"I'm hoping the suppressor will stop him reacting to me being here but he's masking and I still caught his scent so.." Harry shrugged, Snape was powerful and so was Harry, that was always a volatile mix. Harry was starting to regret being so vehemently in support of Minerva being headmistress when Snape had outright refused to stay on. She was clearly clueless.

 

"You caught his scent?" Poppy pushed again. Harry swallowed and nodded, he hadn't meant to admit that. "In twenty years I have never known anyone to have-"

 

"None who admitted to it maybe, I can't be the only alpha he's ever taught," Harry stroked a strand of hair from Snape's face as he rested, the man twitched as if irritated, "just the only one brave enough to dare, I mean," Harry smirked, "omega or not he's still professor Snape."

Poppy managed a weak laugh, Minerva actually cracked a smile although it looked like it might have cost her firstborn for it to be possible.

 

"Well if any student were brave enough Harry..." she didn't have to finish the sentence. Harry wouldn't have called verbally dominating Severus Snape when he was half asleep 'brave'... Poppy pressed a vial into Harry's hand and he held it up in the dim candlelight that bathed Snape's quarters. He blanched at the inky blue swirls behind the glass, he couldn't help it, he hated taking this stuff. It wasn't the suppressor.

 

"You are no good to him or yourself chained to a toilet all night, Harry." Well, that was a consideration, _but this_? He didn't want that stuff in his body. "This is the price of my leaving you alone with him." Harry swallowed the lump in his throat and uncorked the bottle. He closed his eyes and tipped the vial back down his throat in a swift movement, he gagged but got most of it down. It was surprising how quickly it worked. The low-level heat Harry had been carrying in his pelvic region for nearly a month cooled almost instantly. He swayed as the excess blood rushed to his brain. Temporary Chemical castration. Technically it was illegal to force him to take it, but Poppy hadn't technically forced him, the thought of Snape being alone wasn't force- _was it_?

 

It was clever but it meant he'd spend most of tomorrow with a raging hard on regardless of how many suppressors was in his system as his body started to fight back against it.

 

"There, I am unmanned," Harry sniped, he hated that stuff and it wasn't necessary, "happy?" He demanded. Poppy glared right back at him.

 

"That I won't find a broken omega and a frenzied alpha in the morning?" Harry's jaw set into hard lines at her tone and her words. "Ecstatic, Mister Potter."

-

_Two summers earlier_

 

Ron had started sweating, violently, and shivering. They had nothing for this. Harry had matured before they left the burrow, thank Merlin, and Charlie had spent several hours explaining his life and his hormones to him long before that. But Ron, Harry couldn't help it, Ron smelt sweet, he smelt innocent and new and fresh in his heat. It took all of Harry's will to remember Ron was family, Ron wasn't his omega to take.

 

 It had clicked into place later when Hermione had yelled at Ron and he'd whimpered on one of those days when the tent was too small and the atmosphere thick. Harry had nearly hexed her. Ron was _Pack_. Ron was his to protect until he found his alpha. They were lucky Harry had spent so much of his childhood looking at Ron like a brother, Harry might not have been able to live with himself if he'd succumbed to the allure of Ron's scent.

-


	4. Chapter 4

It was a few moments after the elf came in for the second, or maybe the third, time when Snape stirred from his sleep. Harry let himself relax slightly in Snape's armchair, trusting that without his hormones going haywire and with no organ that might currently do any damage to an unmasked omega, Snape would be ok. He looked better than he had in weeks as he woke from what had probably been the most restful and longest unbroken slumber he'd had since the season had started. It didn't take him as long as it would have taken Harry to glance around, assess the situation and accept it.

 

"Potter." Harry deliberately kept a fair distance between him and Snape, the last thing he wanted was a panicked omega on his hands especially as this one was more than capable of killing him before he even thought to go for his wand in self-defence. "You stayed." Harry let the comment hang for a moment.

 

"You were so exhausted you were barely breathing. I stayed." Snape didn't say anything as he sat up.

 

"However much the gesture is appareci-" Snape's eyes snapped up to him suddenly. "Potter what did you do?" Harry didn't answer. "What did you take Potter you smell like a-"

 

"I know what I smell like thanks, blame Madame Pomfrey, she was ready to leave you to sleep it off alone unless I took-" Harry cut off abruptly, he didn't want to admit it. Snape didn't ask, he didn't have to.

 

"Largely unnecessary," Snape commented.

 

"That's what I said." Harry agreed shortly. "But she's a beta so..." Harry shrugged awkwardly.

 

"You hungry? You slept through dinner." Snape didn't answer.

 

"You abandoned Mister Creevey to sit with me?" Snape asked coolly.

 

"Dennis isn't mine to abandon," Harry said, surprised, _did Snape think-?_ "Besides, Neville won't let anyone hurt him."

 

"You protected that boy as if he were your own in my classroom." Well, that explained why Snape hadn't said anything about the seat swap. He'd assumed Dennis belonged to Harry and with the fumes in the potions lab had probably not gotten close enough to Dennis to realise that he didn't have more than a touch of Harry's scent on him.

 

"I protect him because I owe his brother a debt I can't ever repay," Harry admitted, "and because his mother would never forgive me if I let him get hurt." Snape blinked slowly. Harry had met Dennis' parents at Colin's funeral- that had been one of the hardest days of his life.

 

"His mother?" Harry swallowed.

 

"She's a muggle, she sent Colin to school and ended up burying him, I promised her, and myself, she’d see at least one son survive to adulthood." Snape nodded but didn't question further. He didn't seem to need to. He went to stand and swayed dangerously. Harry had jumped to his feet and had hold of Snape before he remembered his self-imposed vow not to get too close. "You ok?" Snape glared at him. "You should eat." Severus didn't stop glaring. Harry held up a hand defensively.

 

"Potter, exactly what is your intention here?" Harry fixed him with a look.

 

"Right now?" Harry asked. Snape nodded sharply. "Making sure you make it through the night- I mean, do you have any idea how terrifying watching you slowly lose your grip in that classroom was?" Harry demanded out of nowhere. "You were always, you're the only one who never showed weakness, and then to see something like that-" Harry couldn't help it, it had scared the living daylights out of him.

 

"Potter-" Harry sighed.

 

"I'm sorry, it's not your fault I- Merlin, where's Neville when I need him?" Harry ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.

 

"You have never needed Longbottom to speak your mind for you, Potter," Snape commented. Harry glared.

 

"Over a year later I'm still taking dreamless sleep, even the healer thinks that's too long. Doesn't matter. I just, I will be damned if I watched you survive all that to drop because, well, because you had a fucking idiot seventeen year old in your classroom who can't control his hormones."

 

"Potter!" Harry sighed and slumped. He didn't know if Snape was rebuking him for the words or for cursing and he wasn't in the mood to guess. "I am more than capable of handling seventeen-year-old alpha males in my classroom." Harry didn't hesitate, the words were out before he could think to stop them.

 

"Yeah right, I'll bet you don't remember the last season you didn't have someone grounding you in one way or another." Snape had gone white at his words.

 

"What exactly are you insinuating, Potter?" Harry bit his lip.

 

"Doesn't matter." Snape grabbed his arm and squeezed.

 

"You have begun, you will see this through. I repeat. What exactly are you suggesting, Potter?" Harry glared down at the hand around his arm and yanked it free. Snape let go suddenly. Harry forced himself to look the man in the eye. He felt slightly sick and his body couldn’t seem to work out what to do about the scent of omega permeating the room.

 

"Who told you they were cancelling your classes earlier?" Snape barely reacted, maybe he was out of shocked reactions. He shook his head slowly as if in disbelief.

 

"Only you, Potter," Snape commented, he was clearly still exhausted despite the sleep, resigned to the direction the conversation was going.

 

"Do you remember what you called me, who you thought I was?"

 

"Of course I know. Do you have any idea of the cost of such a slip were you _anyone_ else?" Harry was probably one of the few people, if not the only person, who wouldn’t react with blind rage at hearing that name from Snape’s mouth.

 

"I know Madame Pomfrey didn't seem surprised," Snape snorted softly, "and professor McGonagall nearly had a stroke that I even dared." Snape had lowered himself back on the bed and put his head in his hand where he was leaning against the bedside table. He reached out quietly and pulled a drawer open. Harry jumped at the tinkle of crystal against glass as empty vials rolled around inside it. Snape groaned.

 

"What are you looking for?" Harry asked hesitantly.

 

"Pepper up-" Harry opened his mouth to argue, "not for me Potter, you're nodding." Harry hadn't noticed, he never did seem to notice he was tired until he was well beyond exhausted.

 

"I'm fine." Snape fixed him with a look and handed over a sealed vial.

 

"Do me the courtesy of doing as you are told, for once in your life, Potter." Harry sighed.

 

"I'm fine," Harry repeated stubbornly, Merlin only knew what pepper up would do to him.

 

"Potter, you are not the only man in this room who has no desire to see the other exhausted and broken in their waking hours. Take it." Harry stared. That was about as close as Snape would get to admitting he cared; Or that he'd struggled since the battle was over.

 

"Is this ok? On top of the suppressor and the other potion?" Harry couldn't bring himself to say the name of the stuff.

 

"You are a NEWT level student, you should not have to ask that question." Snape paused. "Unless there is something else you are taking?" Harry shook his head.

 

"Haven't taken anything else since Pye tried to get me off the dreamless sleep over the summer." Snape gestured for Harry to drink the potion.

 

"He suggested an alternative?" Harry let out a low bitter laugh.

 

"He tried to suggest an omega or a beta, then when I nearly hexed him... occlumency and counselling." Snape snorted. "Yeah, that's what I said." Harry caught himself absently scratching the back of his neck.

 

"Not many counsellors who know how to talk someone through surviving being a dark object." Snape didn't answer. "Or being raised like a pig for slaughter." Snape's eyes snapped up to him suddenly as he recognised his own words. He seemed to take a moment to process what Harry had said and then he pulled a face.

 

"Oh do stop with the self-pity, Potter, it doesn't become you." Harry actually laughed. After almost a minute he sighed and managed a weak smile.

 

"There are literally three people who still treat me like I'm a human being...Hermione, professor Flitwick and you." Snape half tilted his head in question and Harry caught a wave of his scent. He could feel his body trying to respond and it hurt! He let out a gasp before he could stop it.

 

"Potter-" Snape's sudden concern was as disconcerting as the sensations Harry was feeling right now.

 

"I'm fine, just," he uncorked the vial of potion, "I'll be fine." He drank it and swiped at his mouth as his ears whistled.

 

"Potter you should not be here, the pain must be-"

 

"Bearable." Harry interrupted. "It's bearable, I'm fine and I'm not going anywhere until you've slept more."

 

"Potter if you think I will not turn you out of here-"

 

"You'll try, but let's be honest," Harry half hoped Snape might rise to the challenge, "you don't have the will or the strength right now to do more than holding this conversation." Snape glared daggers at him but didn't argue. He had no argument and he knew it. "Sleep professor, an elf comes in every hour to make sure I'm not harming you, you're exhausted and having an alpha with enough power to sense already put you to sleep for three hours."

 

"Potter, I am not yours-" Harry put a heavy hand on Snape's shoulder and pressed him back into the bed.

 

"You're not mine, or anyone else's but your own, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you work yourself to death," Harry told him softly.

 

"Am I to be another one of your charity cases, Potter?" Harry laughed aloud. He did seem to collect unbonded Omega's and decide he was going to protect or take care of them without even realising he was doing it.

 

"I wouldn't dare presume anyone could protect you better than you can protect yourself." He responded in kind. "But protection and friendship are two very different things." Snape frowned at him. "All I'm asking is a chance to be a friend to you." Harry didn't voice any more than that right now. Snape needed a friend and if that was all Harry could he to him then he would be.

 

-

 

Harry woke with a start as the elf shook his shoulder. He checked his wand automatically, Snape had finally admitted defeat and slept and Harry had taken the opportunity to do the same.

 

"There is someone at the door, sir!" The elf's high pitched voice made Harry wince and cast a wary look at the sleeping form in the bed. Snape hadn't stirred. Harry stumbled to his feet groggily and opened the door without thinking.

 

"Nev," Neville looked exhausted.

 

"Harry, you didn't come to dinner or bed..." Neville said quietly and without preamble. Harry put a finger to his lips.

 

"He's sleeping, finally," Harry whispered. Neville glanced past Harry into the darkness and then back at him.

 

"Did you?" Harry shook his head.

 

"I took a temporary castration potion to stay with him," Harry whispered, "he needed a friend and I couldn't leave him."

 

Neville nodded his understanding.

 

"Are you alright?" Neville shrugged.

 

"Just surprised to find your bed empty, you don't tend to wander at night anymore."

 

"Yeah," Harry said awkwardly, being afraid of the dark and the monsters his mind created at night tended to keep him in his bed at night.

 

"I thought you might have- you know, with him." Harry shook his head.

 

"Nev, you know I would but he's, well, I won't chase him, I respect him too much to do that."

 

"Harry, you know he won't come to you. That's not how this works." Harry sighed. He knew. He'd been thinking about it.

 

"I know, when the season’s over and he's stable, and I am, I'm going to court him instead- if he’ll let me." Harry didn’t have to voice his worry that Snape might just curse him instead.

 

"Oh," Neville looked stunned. "Harry that's," Harry half smiled at Neville's expression of disbelief. "I," Neville started to say, "I really hope it works, I'd be honoured to witness you two if it does."

 

"Nev, you're my beta, I'm hoping you'll do more than _just_ witnessing it." Neville’s eyes went wide. He shrugged after a moment’s horrified pause.

 

“Can’t be any scarier than spending a year trying to kill him.” Harry winced at the memory of the state Neville had been in when the dust had settled from the battle. Neville touched his arm with a smile, he’d meant it as a joke. “See you tomorrow, Har.” Harry caught his beta by the shoulder and pressed a soft kiss to his lips in farewell. Neville melted under the touch and only the fact that his body just wouldn’t right now stopped him ravishing Neville against the wall. Neville pulled away curiously and frowned at the taste of the potions he’d taken on Harry’s lips. “I don’t like the taste of raw tobacco on you, Har,” he muttered almost petulantly.

 

“I’ll ask Madam Pomfrey if there’s a different impotency inducer next time you feel like coming looking for me in the early hours because I wandered off.” Harry quipped.

 

“Hopefully you won’t be doing that too often,” Neville muttered softly.

 

“Nah, think I’ve finally grown out of it now,” Neville half smiled, “especially now I’ve got a reason to stay in bed.” Neville blushed.

 

“Harry!” Harry smirked and laughed quietly. He stayed stood in Snape’s doorway until Neville was back down the corridor and the echo of his footsteps on the stone floor had long since faded back to Gryffindor tower.

-


	5. Chapter 5

Severus Snape was not a man accustomed to waking slowly, warm, and comfortable. He was used to waking screaming, gasping, fighting for his equilibrium. Purely on the basis that it was more familiar, he decided as he was pulled to wakefulness by the smell of cooked bacon that he preferred the latter. Waking up feeling rested and safe was just plain odd. He could smell the alpha in the room but the scent was tainted, burnt and dulled. Potter. Severus still couldn't believe Potter had willingly taken a potion to induce impotence, however temporary, just to watch over him. The boy was a consummate martyr. It occurred to him as he sat up that he wasn't masking and Potter was not in the armchair Severus had watched him slump into the night before. The two things were probably related, Severus could just imagine the pain of one’s body attempting what a potion had rendered impossible might feel like and he wouldn't have wished that on his worst enemy. The door to the kitchenette sat ajar enough to let in the sound of a rumbling kettle and what was probably a half destroyed kitchen revealed Potters whereabouts. Severus summoned a bathrobe and climbed out of the bed.

He stepped into the light of the kitchen to find it surprisingly intact.

"Morning!" Potters false brightness was met with a well-deserved glare.

"No idea if you prefer bacon or sausage so I made both, your paper arrived about ten minutes ago. How do you take your eggs?" Severus blinked rapidly.

"Potter, are you cooking?" Potter stopped and stared at him.

"The elves will be busy with breakfast upstairs and you have a fully stocked kitchen, why wouldn't I?" Because if you're half as incompetent with a frying pan as a cauldron then you'll kill anyone who so much as breathes in the smell of bacon fat... Severus didn't answer. "Don't worry I'm a fair cook, eggs?" Severus nodded.

"Over medium." He answered shortly, still stunned by this revelation. "Make yourself at home." He muttered quietly as he sat down, ignoring the strange feeling in his chest that the last person to cook breakfast here had been Albus with his beard slung carelessly over his shoulder. Potter half laughed as he served up a breakfast to rival what was probably being served in the great hall several floors above them. Potter put down a plate in front of him and Severus stared in shock.

 "You cannot possibly be expecting me to eat all of this, Potter?" Harry looked over and frowned. There wasn't that much there, it was only about as much as he'd have put in front of Dudley. And then it hit him. Dudley didn't eat like a normal person.

 "Um, sorry, yeah my uncle and cousin are big blokes, and Ron doesn't exactly eat like a bird either." He held up his hands in mock surrender at Snape's expression, "I won't be offended if you don't finish it, Hermione spent most of the last year complaining that I could feed an army with what I put on a plate for one person." He added as waited for the kettle to boil.

 He'd been surprised to find an almost completely Muggle style kitchen, complete with microwave, toaster, kettle, and electric cooker. Even more surprised to find that the appliances worked. He'd always assumed the lack of electricity at Hogwarts was a necessity rather than anything else.

 "I never realised you could use electrics at Hogwarts..." Harry commented absently as the kettle boiled. "Milk?"

 "A dash, thank you, and yes, but we make a point of not telling students directly." Harry blinked as he finished the tea and set it down. "Stops overprotective Muggle parents giving them pagers and the chaos that would ensue." Severus sipped the tea experimentally and was pleasantly surprised to find it made perfectly to his taste. "Very few ever think to ask."

 "I always assumed electrics would just go bang with the magic in the air." No comment.

 "That is the prevailing assumption." A beat. "Potter do you intend to join me or stand there staring whilst I eat?" Harry gaped.

"Well, um..." he stammered nervously. Snape glared at him.

"Sit down and eat, if you insist on cooking for me then I insist that you be placed at equal risk of food poisoning." Harry actually laughed, when he didn't assume Snape was actually trying to make him angry he'd found he found the man's manner quite amusing.

"Unless you've been using the kitchen to brew potions, you're probably safe." Severus snorted as he watched Potter pour himself tea.

"We shall see." They ate in a companionable silence for several minutes. "I must commend you, Potter, you cook at least as well as the house elves here." Harry smiled and sipped his tea.

"You're welcome." He commented pointedly. Snape shot him a look that became an almost friendly quirk of his lip when Harry didn't look away. They fell back into the easy silence.

Harry was battling himself. _Should he say something?_

In the end, he decided it was now or never and that he needed to be brave.

"I was hoping for the chance to speak to you privately," Snape looked up from his bacon and gestured as if to indicate the lack of other people in the room, "you probably noticed a while back that I caught your scent last year," he said without preamble. Severus tensed and stopped eating.

"What of it?" He asked shortly as he reached for the teacup for something to do with his hands. 

"I never mentioned it to anyone, but..." Snape set down the cup hard on the table.

"I have never run from an alpha in my life, Potter, although several have found themselves subsequently incapable of giving chase for attempting it." Harry winced at the tone the warning was delivered in. Trust Snape to get straight to the point.

"If you think I have so little respect for anyone's right to decide their own fate, or so little respect for you in particular, that I'd just do something like that..." he trailed off and shook his head. The idea of chasing an omega, cornering them and then practically raping them into submission to take ownership of them made him sick to his stomach. He took a steeling breath and squared his shoulders. Snape didn't seem as surprised as Harry expected. "I wanted to speak to you, once the season was over, without hormones raging..." he was hesitating, beating about the bush, "I planned, I plan, on requesting your consent begin a formal courtship process.." he stuttered off into a silence that seemed to swell and block his airways. After several seconds he couldn't take it. "Say something?" Snape was staring as if Harry had grown an extra head.

"Why?" Harry blinked rapidly in shock, ok he still had all of his limbs and faculties and he wasn't on his arse in the corridor- that was probably the only sign he'd get that he hadn't completely fucked up.

"Why what?" 

"Potter." The warning tone was back. Harry swallowed back his nerves with great difficulty.

"Why? And all that the word encompasses." Severus seemed to be having as much difficulty as Harry was keeping this conversation going.

"How about one thing at a time before my head explodes from the shock that you haven't killed me yet." Harry managed weakly. Severus let out a low sound of amusement.

"You are not dead yet Potter, for the plain simple fact, that you have managed to show something resembling a modicum of respect with your actions." Harry let out a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding.

"The last thing I wanted to do was have you thinking I didn't respect you." He admitted. Snape didn't say a word for a moment.

"Then let us begin... with the obvious question. Why me?" Harry drew in a sharp breath.

"I take it you wouldn't believe if I just said I have had a crush on you since my sixth year so I thought I'd have a go and see what you said?" Snape actually raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

"And the fact that the kind of respect I have for you, I couldn't imagine not, at least, having this conversation." More silence. "Well, those things are true, and so much more." Harry wasn't sure he could do this conversation justice with his heart racing the way it was.

"I am old enough to be your father." Harry shrugged, that didn't bother him as much as it probably should have- or at all really.

"So? Most of the omegas my age don't have the life experience or maturity for me to think they're even capable of getting involved in a serious relationship. You have that life experience." Snape didn't seem to take issue with the facts; just Harry's spin on them.

"My life experience… is rather, chequered, wouldn't you say, Potter?" Harry half nodded.

 "That's one way of putting it, mind if I borrow it next time someone what it's like being me?" Snape smirked. Harry hadn't been quite so open with anyone other than Neville and Snape's apparent acceptance of the dry sense of humour he'd developed in the last year didn't go unnoticed or unappreciated.

"Why now?" Harry paused for a moment.

"Why wait until the first time the world has been at peace and there's a season when I'm sure I'm not some kind of dark magic wraith since I came of age?" He didn't bother pretending like he wasn't being sarcastic. Snape didn't answer. He seemed to approve of Harry's words.

"You appear to have given this some thought." Harry wasn't sure what the right answer was.

"Like I said, I've had a crush on you for three years." Snape didn't seem convinced. "If it's any consolation I fell for your mind first." That seemed like the kind of thing that would be important to a man like Severus, knowing Harry wanted more than his hole. It was important to Harry too.

"Of course Potter, even your eyesight was never so dreadful you might be attracted to your foul old potions master."

"Hey!" The denial burst out of Harry's mouth before he could stop it. "You're not foul and you can take that to Gringotts... my taste in men is impeccable!" Snape stared at him. Harry couldn't help the sudden feeling like he'd overstepped some kind of boundary.

"You truly believe that, Potter?"

"I'm stood here, aren't I?" Severus actually broke eye contact as if he were embarrassed by Harry's comment and the implied compliment. "Besides, its women in a disaster with. Men, I'm good with, men I get, women are just..." Harry shivered theatrically. "They're scary." Severus laughed aloud.

"You are... a marvel, Mister Potter." Harry didn't answer. He wasn't sure what to say.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a discussion that probably amounts to graphic depictions of torture and death. Consider this your fair warning.

Harry couldn't shake the nervous excitement in his stomach that Snape hadn't completely rejected him out of hand. His mind was whirring with ideas and plans, this had to go right, he needed to talk to Neville- and probably Hermione. Snape was watching him as he ate and Harry was casting sneaky glances up from his plate once in a while. He didn't want to break the comfortable silence that has descended on them, it felt like a spell that might break and everything would collapse if he wasn't careful. Eventually, he finished eating and set his cutlery down with a sigh. He didn’t really want to leave.

"What are your plans for after you have finished your schooling?" Snape asked suddenly. Harry blinked and then shrugged. He hadn’t expected Snape to ask any more questions this morning.

"Haven't decided," he hesitated, "Kingsley offered me a job with the aurors same as everyone else before he stepped in here," he shook his head shortly, "I told him no," Snape didn't seem too surprised,  "I've had my fill of chasing dark wizards," Severus nodded almost sagely, "I thought about further study, maybe going for a degree but there's nothing I really want to study that much," Harry had been tossing ideas around for months, "there are a few apprenticeship schemes, Ollivander put out an advertisement but, well... then, Gringotts, the ministry, and St Mungo's... the problem is they're all already tainted with too many memories. I want to move on." Snape seemed to consider him for a moment.

"Surely, Potter, the best method of moving on would be to choose the path you wish to follow, rather than avoiding it for fear of where it might lead." Harry stared at Severus for several minutes, he'd forgotten for a moment that the man had been head of house for longer than Harry had been alive. He had his fair share of experience advising students on careers.

"I'm not scared of where it leads, I'm scared that if I follow any one of those I'll spend the rest of my life living in the past."

"Then, Potter, I recommend that you choose the memory you can live with and not lose yourself to it." Harry snorted and moved to stand.

"I'll bear that in mind." He pulled on his robe absently, "thank you, though, I'll leave you to your Saturday afternoon." Snape nodded. He was just about to move away when he hesitated. "I'll be in proper contact in the new year," he said softly, "but if you need anything, consider me friend, at least until then?" He asked carefully.

"I would not be a good friend to you,"

"Be yourself, that's all a friend would ever ask of you, and that would be good enough." Harry half smiled. "Ron taught me that one." He added softly. Snape didn't answer and Harry didn't wait for the silence to turn awkward.

Ooo000ooo

"Nev I swear I'm going mad," Harry admitted that afternoon. "Why the hell am I still dreaming about it all?" He'd spent most of the morning dreaming until he'd woken screaming for no good reason. Battles and duels coming to life and haunting him every time he closed his eyes.

"Harry, you're traumatised, you died. Of course, you're still dreaming about it." Neville offered quietly. "Being in the place most of those terrible things happened probably isn't helping."

"You don't seem to be like this though, and you were tortured and who knows what else here."

"And I had people with me every step of the way, I had Ginny watching my back and Luna always had a story to tell, Dean and Seamus, we got through the worst of it together. You, Ron and Mione, you only had each other and they couldn't be with you for the worst of it."

"I keep reliving that last duel, except…” Harry hesitated, did he actually want to admit this? Out loud? “When I dream, it's not Voldemort I'm duelling," Harry admitted softly as Neville sat on the edge of his bed. Neville took his hand and squeezed supportively.

"Who is it Har?" Harry sighed and tried to make himself relax.

"it's...Dumbledore." Neville's low gasp made Harry wince. "I don't understand why, well I do but, it's complicated-" Harry mumbled tiredly, the potion wasn't out of his system yet so he wasn't wound up enough to be kept awake by arousal. In a moment of exhausted madness, Harry threw back the blanket, grabbed Neville's arm and pulled him fully clothed into the bed next to him. Neville actually squealed and they both laughed.

"Go sleep Harry, I'll just stay and read _Herbologist's Monthly_." The magazine nearly hit Harry on the head as it flew across the room and he ducked with a half-joking mini-yell. Neville laughed and swatted him with it.

"My aim isn't that bad!" He joked and Harry laughed.

"Lucky you didn't summon your bedside lamp instead!" Harry teased and Neville grinned. Harry found himself resting his head on Neville's shoulder, slinging an arm around his waist as if he were a giant teddy bear and drifting off to sleep. It was nice.

Ooo000ooo

 

"Ron." Harry didn't know how his friend had gotten into the common room. The first thing he noticed was the official auror robes. Then the dark circles under his eyes and the rough looking beard like he hadn't shaved in a week.

"Ron, what's happened?" It was Hermione who led him to an armchair and made him sit down.

"They found," Ron started to say and then cut off abruptly, His voice was much lower when he spoke again and both Harry and Neville had to lean in to hear him, "I'm here to see the headmistress, they found Moody's body, what's left of him anyway." Harry's gut rolled at the thought. Moody had been dead over two years, Harry really hoped Ron hadn't been there for that no matter how selfish that was.

"Where?" Harry demanded too harshly, Ron winced. "Ron, where did they find him."

"Bound, tortured." Ron managed weakly.

"-No!" Hermione's gasp nearly drowned out Harry's horrified denial.

"Looks like he managed to survive that fall."

"That's impossible, bill recovered his wand and they had his eye at the ministry." Ron shook his head, he looked ill.

"The funeral is next week," Ron said. Harry swallowed and exchanged a glance with Hermione. "They got him a plot at Godric's Hollow, he had family there."

"I'm going." Harry's tone left no space for argument.

"Harry."

"He was captured getting me out of privet drive Hermione, I'm. Going."

"Well, if you're going then so are we," Neville commented. Hermione nodded.

"I have to go tell McGonagall and the other teachers, that's officially why I'm here." Harry looked his friend over and nodded. He was not letting Ron go up there alone. He didn’t look like he’d make it anyway.

"We'll come with you."

-

Harry couldn't help the almost hysterical laughter that bubbled out of him as the climbed the staircase to the head office.

"Wonder if she'll ask why it's always us again?" He commented flippantly. His nerves were on edge, something was off with Ron, something major and he couldn't quite figure it out. They entered the office in silence, Harry tended not to come up here these days- too many memories.

Dumbledore's pensive still sat in its cupboard. His eyes found it automatically and Neville grabbed his arm when he stiffened. There was an omega in heat here, they were masking but not particularly effectively. He glanced around and finally caught Snape's pinched expression. Their eyes met across the room and Harry couldn't look away. Snape shook his head slightly, just once, in warning. Yes, it was him, no he wasn't deliberately trying to drive Harry to distraction. Harry nodded tightly. He wasn't the only alpha in the room. Drawing attention to Snape right now might get them both beds in the hospital wing. He needed to control himself. Harry was very glad he’d taken his usual dose of the suppressor before he rolled into bed that morning.

"Is there a particular reason, Minerva, that we have been gathered here like errant schoolchildren?" Snape asked almost in his usual silky tone, except that he was obviously sweating. Harry deliberately looked away from him before he drew attention to what should have been obvious to anyone with eyes but apparently, only Harry could see. He nudged Ron surreptitiously when silence descended.

"Um, there's no easy way to say this..." he looked around, Hagrid in the corner, Kingsley by the window, Snape with his back to the bookcase, Professor Flitwick in the window seat. The headmistress seated, bolt upright, at her desk.

"Speak Weasley, we have all taught you, none of us expects Shakespearean eloquence of you." Professor McGonagall pushed. Ron flushed and Hermione glared at the headmistress. She was clearly feeling a little overprotective of Ron right now and Harry didn't blame her.

"They found Moody," Ron blurted out, "his body." Harry glanced around again. Kingsley had gone a strange grey colour, even Snape looked shaken, and Hagrid had collapsed heavily into a seat that must have been spelled to take his weight. "It doesn't look like he died until about eighteen months ago." Harry's gut lurched as he counted backwards mentally and he finally connected the dots.

"Wait, you're saying-" Harry found himself jumping in. Ron nodded.

"What was left of him...” Ron looked slightly green, "it wasn't pretty."

"Presumably all of these details will be in the morning paper." Ron shook his head determinedly at the headmistress’s question, ignoring the falsely impatient tone.

"No ma’am, not all of them, too gory for the public." Snape gripped the chair he was stood by so hard his knuckles turned white. Somehow he seemed to know what that meant. "They had him, prisoner, from what we pieced together it looks like they abandoned him to starve to death and he fought every step to stay alive but..."

"Where, where did they find him?" Harry asked harshly. This was not happening. He didn't want to think about what they would have done to Moody for that long.

"A Lestrange property." Harry felt Neville stiffen and automatically reached out for him.

"Impossible." It was the first word Severus had spoken. Harry looked at him. "They would not have held him there in secret."

"What makes you think it was in secret?" Hermione's curiosity seemed to have finally gotten the better of her.

"Because… Miss Granger..." Snape was gritting his teeth, "had I been aware he was alive I would have blown my cover to smithereens to recover him for the Order." His voice was tight and sharp.

"And if they had him you'd have known?" Harry wasn't accusing him of anything, he was trying to understand why Snape considered Moody’s life more valuable to the Order than Dumbledore’s. Snape nodded tightly.

"Alastor Moody was a prize second only to yourself, Mr Potter." Harry winced. "They would have paraded him for the world to see." Harry swallowed the second wave of nausea in his throat. The silence seemed to stretch on for what felt like days. "One must presume they did not break him whilst the Dark Lord was alive." Ron twitched, Neville's grip tightened on Harry's arm.

"Why?" That was Neville and he sounded like he'd need a bucket in the next minute or so. Blood was rushing in Harry's ears drowning out most of his thoughts. Harry squeezed Neville's hand supportively. Neville knew what the Lestranges were capable of.

"Because he was in the Order," Harry heard himself say, "and they never found the actual address of headquarters until Yaxley grabbed Hermione." Snape's nod was stilted and he clearly wasn't taking any pleasure in this discussion. "Which means he didn't tell them. He kept the secret." Harry found himself looking Snape in the eye. He wasn’t the only one. Snape’s silence on the topic, and Moody's apparently, had kept them alive and safe for months on the run at the height of Voldemort’s power.

"What's the truth then, Ron?" Kingsley asked softly. Ron half shook his head. He didn't want to say it out loud. "Ronald..." Kingsley said softly. They were his colleagues, they deserved to know.

"They tortured him, left him tied up. No food or water. The coroner says he bit his own arm and drank the blood..." everyone winced. Hermione gagged. "They found human flesh in his stomach, his fingers." Professor McGonagall had gone a nasty shade of green, even Snape looked beyond horrified. "They left him on purpose, with a single shot in a muggle revolver." Harry couldn't take anymore as his stomach turned, his imagination was providing awful imagery that he just couldn't cope with right now. Neville caught him and someone pushed a bucket in front of him just in time to save to carpet.

"No." Hermione gasped in understanding and Professor Flitwick stood slowly.

"He never fired it, died of starvation and infection first." A pause. Harry spat a mouthful of bile into the bucket and swiped at his mouth impatiently.

"-good." The word came from Snape.

"You what-" Kingsley put a calming hand on Ron's arm. Harry still couldn’t get used to calling the former Auror 'Professor’ in his own mind especially when seeing him in the same room as Snape was making a Harry feel rather hot under the collar. Kingsley was a genuine danger to Snape and he seemed completely oblivious to the fact.

"Ronald!" Hermione's admonishment came almost too quickly; as if she'd pre-empted his reaction.

"Alastor Moody," Snape started to say slowly, "Lunatic though he may have been," Snape commented as if it were a minor and obvious aside to add, "was a pure blooded, alpha,” He sneered the word as if it tasted bad in his mouth, “male wizard... who would have considered it...” There seemed to be something in his expression, something Harry hadn’t expected, something like grudging respect, "the height of dishonour to kill himself, regardless of the circumstances." Harry couldn't argue with that. "As you say it appears, Mister Weasley, he would have eaten his own hand first."

"Merlin-" Ron cut off abruptly, apparently thinking better of actually arguing outright with Snape. He didn't seem to have the words to respond either Snape’s blunt assessment of Moody's character or the rather callous way he’d chosen to describe the circumstances of the man's death.


	7. Chapter 7

"Funeral arrangements," the headmistress said quietly, Harry blinked trying to clear his imagination of the thoughts circling around his brain, and Snape’s words hadn’t helped calm his imagination down, "what are they?" Snape moved before Ron could speak.

"This conversation no longer concerns me. Good day."

"Severus!" It was Flitwick who snapped. "You cannot be serious." Snape fixed Flitwick with a look that would have made a boggart cry. Everyone seemed to be waiting for something. Harry was more shocked than anything else, he hadn’t thought that Snape and Flitwick were on first-name terms.

"The man was a colleague, but I cannot and will not attempt to feign more than vague relief that he is dead. Nor have I any intention of pretending otherwise." Harry felt like his insides were turned to ice. W _hat was Snape talking about?_

"Damn Snape, what's your problem, the man's dead!" Kingsley snapped and Snape's glare transferred to him.

"Then allow me to save him the indignity of false grief without further question." Snape shot back equally harshly. Harry found himself glancing at Hagrid who had yet to say a word. The half-giant looked like he might never speak again as he stared down at his own hands in mute horror.

"Why do you hate him so much?" Harry found himself asking testily.

"One would think, you might wish to desist pressing for information that would require me to speak further ill of a dead man who earned the right to be remembered for his heroics...alone." That was weird. So Snape respected Moody enough to hold his tongue but not enough to go to his funeral. Which meant he respected Moody more than he respected almost any other member of the Order. 

"Really Snape? That's it? You bastard!" Snape raised an eyebrow at Ron's outburst as if asking why anyone was surprised.

"Alastor Moody was not a man who would have appreciated a large funeral filled with those who had no wish to be there."

Harry couldn't compute what he was hearing, he must have revealed his loss for words in his expression. Snape moved to walk straight past him and for one tense moment Harry couldn't decide what to do. Their eyes met and Harry hesitated.

He stepped aside after a split second’s further indecision. Snape nodded once as if in thanks that Harry didn't question him further. At least not here.

"What the bloody hell's his problem?" Ron demanded as soon as Snape had left. "Moody was an auror and a member of the Order." Harry found that he didn't care too much, he wasn't sure he wanted to know what Snape had against Moody that was so terrible that Snape didn’t want to discuss it.

"Whatever it is, it's something he clearly believes we don't need to know."

"Of course we need to-"

"Mr Weasley," Professor McGonagall finally cut in, "Do professor Snape the courtesy of allowing him some privacy." She seemed to sweep the room with a hard stare that demanded they all do the same.

"And perhaps allow for the fact that Severus is not entirely himself right now." Harry's eyes went wide at Flitwick's pronouncement, he had realised Snape was being affected by the season.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione sniped, she was clearly deeply offended by Snape's actions and doing her best not to completely explode.

"Height of the season, Hermione," Harry said softly, his tone dangerous, "You've got three alpha's and at least two omegas in this room before Snape left. At least one in heat." Harry added shortly. Kingsley shot Harry a look, his expression one of loss. His eyes swept over Ron almost pointedly and then he frowned slightly. Harry glared back. Kingsley had no idea that Snape had been the omega in the room. That was just plain odd. _How had Kingsley missed that scent? And who was the third alpha?_ Harry could smell them and it was driving him mad.

"Honestly Harry you act like this season turns wizards into animals!" She griped almost petulantly. "It's no excuse to abandon basic manners!"

"You know Hermione, I am getting sick of you judging me." He finally snapped. "You have _no clue_ do you?"

"Mister Potter!" Flitwick cut in coolly. "Miss Granger cannot possibly understand," he started to say and Hermione made a sound of protest, "she was neither raised to understand nor does she face the prospect of living with the cycles of the season." A pause. "Have some sympathy."

"I've had sympathy all year, and all last year, and the year before when she decided that a fresh omega just needed to _'toughen up_ ,' " Hermione went scarlet and Ron jumped in.

"Come on Harry that's not fair we were all pretty stressed in that tent." Ron tried. Harry frowned at him. Something that had been bugging him finally clicked into place. Ron took a step back nervously when he saw Harry's expression change, all discussion of funerals forgotten.

"Who claimed you?" The atmosphere thickened perceptibly. Ron opened his mouth then closed it again. That was the third alpha Harry could smell in the room. That was what had confused his senses.

"Harry," Harry didn't look away, "its fine Harry, I promise, don't go mad, please."

"Did he hurt you?" Ron went bright red.

"No, he wouldn't Draco-"

"Draco," Harry nearly cracked the window he shouted so loud, "as in MALFOY!" Ron winced but nodded.

"We both grew up Harry he's different, he's my auror partner he-" Ron was talking almost too quickly, "he's decent and… mum likes him." Harry nearly laughed aloud; of all the things for Ron to say. Somehow it calmed him.

"You happy? With him." Harry was trying very hard not to lose it. Ron actually nodded and smiled. The tight knot in Harry's chest loosened. "Tell him from me, he hurts you he's a dead man. Otherwise. Well," Harry shrugged, he couldn't say he was happy but at least Malfoy's scent on Ron hadn't driven him completely mad. Ron laughed nervously. Harry crossed the room in three strides, shouldered past Kingsley with a pointed look that this was his Best Friend when the man tried to surreptitiously place himself between them and put his arms around Ron in almost one smooth movement. "Take care, alright, I expect lots of red-headed little Malfoy's babies in a few years when you finally retire from the Aurors." Ron flushed and hit Harry playfully on the shoulder. "Also take a camera, I want a photo of the moment you give Malfoy's father a heart attack when he finds out." Harry joked quietly and Ron snorted amusedly.

 

Ooo000ooo

 

“What do you think?” Ron said eventually, he’d come back to the common room for a drink and a catch up with the headmistresses permission. No one had to ask what he meant.

“I think I don’t want to know what Moody did to Snape.” Neville commented.

“I can’t believe that Moody would’ve done anything to him that he didn’t deserve.” Ron sniped harshly.

Really?” Harry deadpanned. “You don’t believe that Alastor _Constant Vigilance_ Moody would have gone out of his way to make the ex-death eater spy miserable?” Harry had seen the way those two had been around each other at Order meetings. Once he’d have wondered but now he had no curiosity, he’d seen what his father had done to Snape and the man had made no secret of how much he hated James Potter- he didn’t want to think about what might be so bad Snape was determined that even any lingering bitterness he held be known only in a small circle of known associates.

ooo000oo

 

Harry stared at the black mourning robes he'd ordered from Madame Malkin and barely saw them. He'd thought he'd attended the last funeral for a while.

"Time to go Harry, Hermione's waiting." Harry nodded and picked up the cloak absently.

"Yeah I'm coming." Maybe it was all the thinking about Moody, Harry made a point of slipping his potions knife into his boot. He just had a feeling. They walked through the castle in silence.

“Minerva,” Harry was surprised to hear Snape’s voice carrying across the grounds, he flung his arm out automatically to stop Hermione walking any further. “The school will manage for one day,”

“Harry-?” Harry shushed her impatiently.

“Wait, give them a minute.” The way they were stood, heads together, Minerva half leaning against Severus as if afraid she’d collapse without his support, Harry didn’t want to intrude on this.

“Harry, we’re going to be late!” Hermione hissed

“You will find far more Gryffindors to coddle there than here.” Harry was shocked to hear Professor McGonagall actually laugh and Snape actually took her hand and squeezed supportively. “This school stood for centuries before either of us were born, it will remain long after we are gone. One day without your presence shouldn’t make too much difference.”

“If anything happens, Severus,” Snape rolled his eyes almost affectionately, “send me a patronus or something.”

“You are not seeing your preteen onto the school train Minerva, stop fussing. If you think we have any intention of allowing this school to fall now...” He nodded up towards the castle, jaw set determinedly, and McGonagall whipped around. Harry made himself not look, Hermione didn’t.  She let out a low gasp.

“Harry,” He turned, forgetting his attempt to pretend he’d managed to give them some privacy. “Look.” In the doorway they had just left through, Flitwick, Sprout and half the staff were congregating.

“You do not leave this school unprotected today, headmistress.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patience is a virtue, I have none...

Harry barely took in the service, he noted absently that Moody got the same ministry bod as they had at Dumbledore's funeral. Maybe there was only one, he seemed to do nearly every other one that Harry attended that a head of the family hadn't overseen. It seemed fitting somehow, staring down at the hole in the ground and the plain pine box. It was strange, Harry couldn't quite compute it, he couldn't quite convince himself that Moody was in there. They could have been mourning an empty box for all he knew. The service ended without incident and people were milling around. Harry glanced up and nudged Hermione.

"Looks different in the daytime, doesn't it?" He asked quietly, gesturing at the cemetery around them. He still felt off kilter, out of sorts, like he was slightly out of sync with everyone else. She half smiled at him, face still tear-stained and nodded. "I'm going to drop in on my parents." He nodded in a random direction, he couldn't get his bearings from this angle. This place didn’t feel familiar despite the hours he’d spent here, it felt like trekking over unfamiliar terrain and it was taking almost all of his concentration to remain present in the moment. She pointed in another direction towards the line of trees. Harry swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. "I'll see you back at the Hog's Head," Harry told her softly without looking at her.

"We'll wait for you Harry if you want." Neville’s voice sounded distant, off, like Harry knew it was him but something wasn’t quite getting through.

"It's December, Nev, and you're both wearing dress robes…” He’d have said he was recovering from the aftermath of a blasting curse, except there hadn’t been one, “Go get drinks in, I plan on raising more than one glass to Moody today." Neville laughed, it sounded strained, even Hermione’s tittering seemed a half a note out of tune.

Harry approached his parents grave alone feeling like he might lose his footing in the soft mud and simultaneously like he was floating an imperceptible millimetre above the ground. He looked it over and sighed. Even the cold seemed muted, somehow, like he was wrapped in an impervious charm. He'd spent a lot of time here, doing it up. The stone at the top was cleaner now and he'd had a surround for the grave made and added before filling in the centre with red glass stones. He'd had them place three of those stone pots that held flowers on the grave in a triangle formation. It was like staring at a difficult homework problem for a moment, it took him two attempts to read the words on the stone and remember where he was.

He knelt down and wiped the frost from the engraving on the one nearest the bottom of the grave. He barely felt the cold on his palm. It wasn't much but with no body to bury it had felt right to add this to his parents grave when he'd had the chance. Or he’d thought it had at the time, but right now it didn’t feel like much of anything at all.

 

_Sirius Orion Black._

_Mischief Managed.  
_

 

He flicked his wand and they all filled with fresh blooms. Cream roses against the red stones that carried a layer of frost completed the muted Gryffindor colours. He hadn't even realised that was the colour scheme he was going for until after he'd done it.

Harry had only just recently learned from Neville that it was some kind of weird pureblood tradition to buy your grave plot when your firstborn was named. The first real sharp emotion in hours twisted in his chest. Loss, confusion, mild distaste at the tradition even as he recognised the sense of it. As James and Lily had chosen this spot Sirius had bought the one next to it- but he’d left no body to bury- and Harry had inherited it as part of the Black estate. He climbed to his feet and moved towards the next grave. It had felt fitting to put Remus and Tonks here instead of saving it. Andromeda had agreed. He smiled down at the stone absently, vaguely aware that he felt a kinship with the names he was reading.

"Teddy's getting big you know? Already figured out how to change his hair colour." Harry told them fondly as the memory of his godson, arms reaching to Harry as he’d stumbled across the lounge of Grimmauld Place unsupported by adult hands for the first time. "Andy writes me, says he keeps making it bubblegum pink, _I wonder where he gets that from_!" Even stood alone he could just imagine Tonks laughing at that, Remus trying to be stern but his eyes glittering with mirth.

He was starting to feel something like normal again, the numb grief of another good man lost to war fading with the light as the pale sun dipped behind the tree line. Harry eyed the words he'd found in a bible last year. He'd read it trying to understand the line on his parents stone, trying to find something like one last bit of meaning in the message Dumbledore had left. In the end, he'd found a few pithy epitaphs and a strange empathy for the protagonist in _'that Muggle book about that Jesus bloke_ ,'- as Ron had called it.

 

_I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith._

 

Eventually; with the cold air biting at his fingers and his nose, Harry sighed, turned slowly to check he wasn't being watched and apparated away.

=

Harry stepped out of the cold and into the almost welcoming warmth of the 'Head. Silence seemed to descend as he approached the bar itself and Aberforth set down a glass in front of him. He pulled out a bottle with a strange metallic topper on it and poured.

"Drink kid, you look like you need it," Aberforth said gruffly. Harry eyed the glass as the silence became oppressive. He lifted it and half smiled at Aberforth.

"To Alastor Moody," he declared emphatically, a moment of hesitation became a sense of flippancy, "Constant Vigilance!" And he downed the shot as laughter broke out and chatter resumed. He glanced around, suddenly full of righteous anger and nervous energy. _Moody shouldn’t have died. Not the way he did_. He looked around again as he absently lifted his hand and stopped Aberforth refilling his drink. His heart nearly dropped out of his chest. Most of Hogwarts staff were congregated around a table, but if they were here... he pushed his way through the mass of people until he reached the table. McGonagall, Flitwick, Sinistra, Sprout, Hagrid, and even Trelawny in the corner.

"Who's up at the school?" He demanded without preamble.

"Severus is there," Flitwick squeaked half drunkenly. Apparently, he'd been here a while.

"Alone?" Harry felt sick.

"'E dint wan'o ear of any of us stayin up there. Said we should show us faces an pay us respects once classes was done fer day." Hagrid muttered seemingly out of nowhere. Harry had a strange feeling in his chest. Snape, alone, on the day of Moody's funeral, at Hogwarts. It felt wrong. Snape standing, once again, alone in defence of the school and its pupils. Neville's hand on his arm stopped and the killed the angry words in his throat before they formed. Harry didn't want to be here. Not now. Not really. He glanced down at the hand on his arm and Neville squeezed softly.

"Go," He glanced up, Neville's smile was all pure understanding and quiet support, "you know where you want to be right now." Harry swallowed, his nod jarring and halting like his breathing and his heart rate.

Harry forgot his need to berate the professors for being so cold and half turned into Neville's guiding hand. Of all of them, only Hagrid had an answer to his query, _had Hagrid been the only one with the decency to argue with Snape_? _Snape_. _Right_. Harry swung back around and returned to the bar, dug his hand into his pocket and threw half a dozen galleons on the oak top before he could change his mind.

"A bottle of whatever Snape drinks and a bottle of halfway decent whisky please, Aberforth." A beat. "To go." Harry left with two bottles of Moon Label and Aberforth held the door open as he stepped back outside. One last glance back at Neville's encouraging nod and Harry only had one destination in mind now.

"Say hello to Snape for me, tell him his seat misses him," Aberforth commented as Harry left, head bowed determinedly against the wind.

"Will do."

=

"You really didn't want to go to that funeral, did you?" Snape had taken one look at him, spared a glance to the bottles he’d held up and let Harry into his quarters without a word.

"Pour the alcohol, Potter, apparently... neither of us is willing to have this conversation sober." Harry cracked open the first bottle absently and poured it into the proffered pair of tumblers. Snape raised a surprised eyebrow. "You pour a generous measure, Potter."

"I like to do more than wet my lips when I'm drinking," Harry answered coolly, he didn't drink often but when he did he tended to go all out. "You're avoiding my question." Snape fixed him with a filthy look and took the glass, he raised it in a momentary silent salute and matched Harry's movement in taking the first sip as the chink of crystal chimed between them.

 "I haven't been to a funeral since my own mother's, Potter … and even that was under duress." He said eventually. Harry stared.

"You didn't want to go to your own mum's funeral, but-" Harry cut off, horrified, the idea was an anathema to him who didn’t even remember if he even got the chance. He doubted Aunt Petunia would have gone with two boys under two years old so he’d always assumed he’d missed his own parents funeral.

"Naturally Potter, what I wished more ardently than anything else... as a nineteen-year-old boy, grieving the passing of the woman who bore and raised me... was to spend a day that might otherwise have been turned to more productive pursuits...” He sipped from his drink almost thoughtfully, “flitting between appallingly behaved muggle relations who took a funeral as an excuse for, frankly, a piss up and a good fight...” and another drink, “and the ladies of pureblood high society who seemed inc..a..pable... of lower..ing their voices whilst declaring their absolute astonishment... at how strongly traits of personal appearance appear to be shared in muggle families...” tapping his nose pointedly he pulled a face, Harry bit back a smirk and Snape's eyes glinted with something like mirth, “and tore up the International Statute of Secrecy whilst doing so..." He set the tumbler down before it refilled itself, " _just_ what the healer ordered, _I'm sure_." His tone dripped sarcasm.

"Oh..." Harry drank for something to do with his hands. Eventually, he set the tumbler down on the kitchen worktop and moved before he lost his nerve.

"Umph," A pause, "Potter? What are you doing?"

"It's called a cuddle, it's a gesture of comfort between friends, deal with it."

"Potter, this is not appropriate."

"Yes, it is,"

"Potter let go of me before I hex your arms off and shove them into whichever of your orifices they will fit."

"No."

"Potter. I am serious."

"So am I."

"Kindly… return my person to my possession, Potter. NOW!" Harry stepped back slowly, making note of but not commenting on, the slightly bereft look that flitted across Severus' expression. "What was- that?" Snape demanded, he was apparently trying for his usual dangerously silky tone but his voice caught tellingly. Harry reached out and put a hand over Snape's in a more reserved gesture.

"I am your friend, and you are dangerously starved of affection."

"Affection is for lovers, I am not yours-" Harry’s sigh cut Snape’s words off.

"No it's not," Harry insisted quietly as he took another mouthful from his suspiciously full drink, he watched warily as it refilled to the same level it has started at, _magical glasses_ , "it's for friends. And I told you... I am your friend and to hear you talk like that-" Harry sighed again. "I just," Harry shook his head sadly, "someone should have supported you, reached out the hand of friendship to you," Harry muttered almost mutinously.

"They did, Potter," Harry frowned, "the dark mark was not fresh on my arm that day." Harry nearly hit something.

"I don't mean _recruited_ , Snape, I mean a friend, someone who listened, who didn't expect anything back or offer you up to a megalomaniacal lunatic!" Snape glanced between Harry and his drink, concern evident. "I'm not drunk, Snape, I'm angry. I'm angry on your behalf. You were failed by everyone around you." Harry hissed. it took more than two drinks to rob him of his inhibitions these days, he'd attended too many wakes in the last year to be so easily inebreated.

He took a halting step back into Snape's personal space, Snape didn't step back or push him away. He had an expression like academic curiosity. It was almost endearing, like watching Neville pet a pot of Devil’s Snare. Snape was in his element, weighing, measuring and evaluating him like he was a puzzle to be solved. It was so easy to lose himself in that glint of knowing interest and meet it with his own.

Harry hadn't even consciously noticed the scent mocking his senses- alcohol and cold always screwed with his sense of smell anyway. Snape's heat had ended three days ago. Harry had stepped into the potions classroom as relieved as Severus had been that day that it was over for him for another season; relieved that he could think straight and focus on something other the spot where the dark black of the Potions Master’s robes clashed with the pale flesh below and Adam’s apple quivered, waiting- just out of reach- to be tasted. Harry hadn’t been sure how much longer he could stand to hear the dangerous edge in Snape’s voice that he was convinced could be blunted and tamed and turned to soft moans and gentle keening with a little tenderness, a little _personal_ attention, and do nothing about it.

He liked the way unclaimed omegas smelled after their heats, it wasn't pushy or cloying and it didn't make him react with wild abandon; it tasted like the lingering memory of the last touch something sweet on his tongue. It was softer, less dangerous, smoother. Before and after; Like the difference between firewhisky and the stuff they were drinking today. Moon Label. It was clean, it went down like honeyed milk and warmed like a campfire or the surreptitious touch of a lover instead of burning through his senses and scorching his lungs with ash and soot like a bad trip through the floo.

Harry almost leaned in, he almost lifted a finger and swiped that damn stray strand of hair from Snape’s face where it had fallen from his fringe, he almost sighed and let his dick take over thinking for him.

“Fuck!” instead he swung away and pulled his palm over his face in frustration at himself. “Sorry, I just-“ the growl slipped out of his throat before he could stop it; Snape looked strangely frozen as if he half expected Harry to pounce on him for a moment. His expression hardened fractionally.

“Potter!” Harry flinched at the bark from the man, _yeah_ … he’d fucked it with Snape and that moment of weakness.

“If you wish to play the gentleman find a damsel, otherwise, stop being so damned honourable...” For the first time in nearly two years, someone grabbed Harry from behind and he didn’t react by shoving his wand into their throat; he relaxed under an unexpected touch, his instincts welcomed it. One second he was spinning, the next he was being yanked bodily against the nearest upright and stable surface, which happened to be the kitchen counter and _Snape was daring him to stake a claim_.

“I am a grown man, I do not require your protection from myself… _Alpha_.” The words hit him like a knife somewhere between his gut and his chest, they twisted and _challenged_. Harry’s blood rushed in waves and _sang_ to that tune.

Snape was doing that _deliberately_ , suffocating Harry with that scent like sweetness and smoke, heady and strong and entirely addictive. Drawing him in, teasing the reckless edge that told him to _just fuck it and take him_ , taunting the still coherent part of his conscious mind that was panicking that _this wasn’t how he’d wanted to do this_!

Somewhere between tasting the burn of whisky on Snape’s lips and the low catch of a smirk from an Omega who had fucking known _exactly what he was doing_ when he opened his door tonight; it stopped mattering what he’d planned, what he wanted, what they’d talked about- _or hadn’t_. All that mattered was that Snape was willing and eager and- _shit, this is happening_! Harry felt like he was all thumbs and teenage eagerness and Snape was not making this any easier.  

“If you want,” Snape’s voice was like hot chocolate in his ear, “you must take,” And Harry wasn’t sure which of them was pulling the other closer anymore as the blood rushed his groin and his heart raced.

“Oh,” he met Snape’s tone with a harsh whisper of his own as his teeth brushed over the softness of swollen lips, “I want.” Damn it all, Damn his promises, and his stupid sense of Gryffindorish honour, and Damn that expression on Snape’s Damn face and the implicit dare for him to _prove it_. His fingers curled around Snape’s wrist and the muscle flexed in his grip as if testing him. _Oh yes! He wanted_. _Now._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clarification: Harry wasn't cursed/hexed at the funeral he went into a minor emotional shock- if you've ever grieved someone you weren't expecting to have to you'll probably recognise that sense of absence from reality followed by the surge of temper in the pub and the inability to control or even recognise the emotions he's feeling. It's a natural part of grieving and it passes at variable rates. I'm playing with the usual timescale a bit as Harry was never that close to Moody, let's say he was grounded by visiting a grave he knew and thinking about something normal and real (Teddy) and he was perfectly compos mentis dealing with Snape. 
> 
> Note: Yes, they had a drink before getting down to it; they can handle it, they are grown men, no one is beyond being capable of consenting here. The drinking age in the UK is 18. No laws were/will be broken.
> 
> Special mentions:
> 
> Many thanks to HecatesKisses who's kindly allowed me to pick her brains before posting.
> 
> JSprincess who will probably recognise the bit that their last review on this work spawned. 
> 
> I left it here because I want that main scene all in one chapter; yes, I AM evil, it IS frustrating... that's the idea ;)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay on this one, I have five deadlines in the next six weeks and have had three in the last two weeks.

Harry's lips found the spot on Snape's neck he'd been staring at for weeks and even as the man shivered and completely melted Harry heard the catch of a smirk.

"Potter..." Harry tightened his grip on Snape's arm and stepped back, yanking the man with him easily.

"Snape," he was trying to keep his head, trying not to lose his grip on reality, "Snape... I don't stop, you need to be sure about this," Snape shoved him hard in the chest and he stumbled, they were both panting heavily and Harry hadn't thought it was possible for anyone to look so debauched as Snape did from a little almost-innocent pawing. He was flushed and Harry had managed get his shirt half open without even thinking about it, his belt was hanging open and his hair looked like he'd just climbed off a Cleansweep Nine.

"Listen to me, Potter!" The glint in his eye was sharp and dangerous. "The last alpha who tried to touch me lost his leg. Now as you are intact-!" He grabbed Harry's shirt and pulled him close, the threads on two of the buttons couldn't take the strain and popped. "Do not presume every member of my gender is the same." He hissed hotly. "We are not all mindless chattel who require gentle handling." Snape pulled him down into a harsh kiss. It was all lips and teeth and tongue, hard and bruising and desperate to get closer, to feel everything. Harry stopped worrying that Snape didn't want this.

=

"Don't you think it's a bit..." Hermione pulled a face and sipped her butterbeer. Neville glanced askance at her. "Inappropriate...?" He asked awkwardly. "I mean, this is a funeral," Neville smirked.

"It's a pureblood funeral for an auror, Hermione," he told her, "we don't mourn when someone dies, we celebrate that they lived." Hermione nodded.

"I know that," she said hotly, "but," she eyed the game that looked suspiciously like muggle dominoes and the banter around the table distastefully.

"Lose this hand I take your witch home, Pep." Neville laughed at Hermione's scandalised look as someone slammed an ivory block onto the wooden top and laughter erupted around the table. The female in question even made a show of leaning in and putting her hand very suggestively into the winner's robes.

"Don't worry darling, I'm sure we can find you a seat to watch from." Hermione shuddered at the scene and the words directed at the man who had lost.

"Hermione they're aurors, what did you expect?" She frowned at him, wasn't it obvious?

"A little... decorum?" She answered sniffily. Neville snorted into his beer and inhaled half of the head. His spluttered choking drew a few off colour comments. He was grinning when he finally surfaced.

"Hermione," he started to say and chuckled, "I take it you've not come back for the wake before?" Hermione shrugged. She'd stayed away from the post-service gatherings after the battle assuming that they were invitation only and for family and close friends. The only reason she was here today was that Ron had said he'd see her here and Neville was accompanying. "They're not even drunk yet, just wait. This is quiet for a wake."

"Quiet?" Hermione hissed, "they're all over each other and I'm sure she's a-" Neville kicked her under the table. Hard. Hermione was just about to yell at him when she caught the look he sent her.

"She's an auror!" He said quietly. "She knows what she's doing."

"It's degrading." Hermione insisted. "She's being pawed and bartered like a piece of meat." Neville shook his head slowly, as if in disbelief.

"Hermione, she's a woman, and she knows the effect she has on the men in the room. Just because you don't, why is it degrading for her to use it?" Hermione looked as if he'd asked her to kill a bunny rabbit or something else equally scandalous. She opened her mouth the retort and then closed it.

"I need some air." She declared and stood slowly, fixing Neville with a filthy look. He watched her go and sighed. Hermione's sensibilities were getting difficult to handle and he had only really reached out to her for Harry's sake. He didn't notice anyone watching him as he lost himself in his thoughts.

"Hey Longbottom, you swing my way?" Ok, that was a bit crude even for him especially as this one was clearly more than halfway to a stupor. Hermione had been halfway back through the door. Neville eyed the Auror as if assessing him, he was conventionally appealing if a little butch for Neville's taste. Taking care to meet his eyes and offer a friendly smile to diffuse any tension he kept his voice deliberately light.

"Not even if my alpha wouldn't tear you apart, I wouldn't like to think where you've been or what you're carrying, auror!" He shot back and the man laughed, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"What I'm carrying, eh? I'll show you my wand if you show me yours!" Neville rolled his eyes like he hadn't heard that pickup line before. He was a beta and he'd attended his fair share of parties last year, he knew the drill. Even now, those who knew anything about it knew that the bond he had with Harry was entirely mundane and breakable, by definition it didn't offer the same protection as an alpha for his omega because Neville wasn't supposed to need it.

"You don't see my wand auror, you just wake up in the hospital sometime next week... if at all."

"-That a dare?" Hermione was watching the exchange, horrified.

"It's a promise, Harry doesn't take kindly to other wizard's scents on me," Neville commented calmly. There weren't that many Harry's in the wizarding community. It took a few seconds to sink in. Neville watched amused as he sipped his drink pointedly.

"You might have said sooner, Longbottom." The auror answered, his tone short as he pulled back his hand from Neville's shoulder.

"And you'd have taken no for an answer the first time?" Neville sneered up at him. The aurors eyes narrowed. "Word of advice," Neville spat, "You want a beta partner you have to earn us. It starts with respect... and sobriety." The man stumbled back to his friends raving about Longbottom and Potter being a thing as Hermione returned to her seat smelling suspiciously of smoke. He shared a knowing look with her.

"Well, that should make an interesting morning headline at least." She said wryly.

=

Harry wasn't paying attention to how they got from the kitchen to the bed. These were Snape's quarters, Harry was still just following and getting his bearings. He was more interested in the fact that by the time they got there Snape's belt was on the floor and his shirt was fully open. Snape's hand on his chest was doing strange things to his gut. He was stroking the same spot Neville liked, and Harry realised. Neville liked to suck that spot, hard. It tended to leave marks. Harry stilled.

"Creevey?" Snape asked softly, his expression unreadable.

"Neville," Harry answered shortly. Snape's eyes snapped up to his own in surprise. He knew Neville wasn't an omega. Snape actually let out a low rumbling laugh as if he'd just realised something that had been irritating him.

"That explains..." Snape seemed shocked as he connected the dots. " _You_ knotted a beta, Potter?" Harry didn't answer straight away. Snape was the school potions master, he'd brewed what they'd needed to heal Neville and apparently no one had seen fit to tell him which alpha Neville had been under when he'd sustained his injuries. He'd known Potter and Longbottom were close, one didn't fight a battle like they had and not be, but he'd managed to miss any sign that the two were any more than friends.

"Still sure you want this," Snape's smirk turned almost predatory for a moment as he ran his thumb over the mark and Harry shivered, "he's part of the package." He managed to sound firm.

"Good," Snape commented, "you two suit." Harry nearly laughed.

"That's what he said about us." He answered before he could stop himself. Snape seemed to take heart as his scent changed and his hands found Harry's trousers. Apparently, that conversation was over. Harry's instincts went into overdrive as he pushed the man onto the bed and stripped his deftly. Snape actually whimpered at the harsh treatment. Harry couldn't help how hot he found that.

"Fuck," Harry managed weakly. Snape was fucking beautiful. No wonder he wore so many layers, any less and he'd have been jumped by every red-blooded human to ever step into his classroom. Harry leaned down and kicked his shoes off, stepping out of his trousers absently as his tongue explored Snape's mouth some more. He let his hands explore as Snape started to back off. "No!" The growl slipped out of him and he caught Snape's lip between his teeth. Snape smirked. He'd been played. Harry let out a low warning sound, it wasn't a good idea to tease him. Snape's eyes glinted with something like mirth and Harry understood. Snape was not going to come quietly into Harry's arms like some little meekling.

It had only taken a second of distraction for Snape to take advantage of Harry's precarious position and Harry was the one suddenly looking up into a predatory gaze and dangerous smirk. He nearly tore Snape's head off and the unthinking roar of rage would have cowed a lesser man came from deep in his chest. Snape's expression didn't change. Harry scrambled for a hold on something, anything, anything so he didn't break Snape's neck for fucking daring! He didn't realise he was gasping for breath until he felt the heat from between Snape's lips on his earlobe and the cool stroke of fingers over his bare chest. Where the hell was his shirt? Fucking tricky little omega though he was clever, did he? His scent was everywhere, Harry was drowning in the heady spice of a ready hole and an omega who had been here for a long time, who had felt safe enough to unmask in this room, on these sheets. There was something deeply erotic about knowing how safe Snape felt here, knowing he'd slept here, relaxed here, that he felt like he was in control here and knowing that Snape was about to hand Harry that control on a silver platter.

Snape shifted above him and Harry felt it, the warm, wet, slickness and Snape actually stilled. Hary couldn't help it.

"fuck _!" Snape was wet_! it took all his self-control to keep his hands down, not to wrap a hand around the man's neck and drag him down and take him. He’d thought it would be a lot harder than that to get the man interested. His vision was swimming with need, the haze of that scent tickling reflexes he didn't know he had. Snape's expression faltered, the glimmer in his eye disappeared and Harry grabbed him a moment before he tried to pull away. Severus wasn't teasing, there was something else, he was genuinely hesitating, something was holding him back. Harry slipped his hands between the man's thighs, he stroked his way through the damp warmth and Snape's breath seemed to hitch with every touch. Harry knew he wanted this, omegas weren't like beta women, they didn't get wet like this unless they wanted it; unless they genuinely consented. It was the wetness that indicated a womb open for children, an omega who trusted the alpha they were with to fill it. There were ways of forcing it, of manipulating it, but Harry abhorred even the idea of them. He knew some alphas did it when they had claimed their omega dry and wanted children. Harry had been horrified when Charlie had explained that.

_*Two Summers Earlier*_

_"Harry," he'd said gently as the teenager had slowly regained his equilibrium after the information overload on alphas and scenting and why it made complete sense that he and Malfoy had wanted to kill each other from being eleven-year-olds, and the conversation progressed, "no one will tell you this, it's a bit taboo to talk about it, but you need to know; omegas aren't supposed to be dry when you touch them. Some alphas don't care, they just go in and claim, the pick an omega they want and there's never been an omega alive who can fight that compulsion to obey and spread their legs when an alpha wants them."_

_Harry had pressed his hands to his lips to stop himself vomiting, that sounded so wrong._

_"Omega males, they have a gland, just behind the testicles, it lets out this kind of fluid, lubricant, when it does it naturally it means they feel safe. It's a biological defence mechanism, you can't knot or impregnate a dry omega. You just can't- not without tearing them apart, they'd probably die from the internal damage first."_

_Harry had been so relieved, he'd been horrified at the thought of inadvertently forcing himself on someone because he lost control of his hormones, to know they had some way of fighting back, that something would happen that even in a frenzy he wouldn't misconstrue or be aroused by- it had helped him come to terms with what he was._

_"Don't touch it, Harry, unless they are already wet, you can trigger it to release by mistake and most omegas will panic if you try because some alphas do it deliberately, to force them to open up." Harry had cursed aloud as the ramifications of what Charlie was telling him had hit him. He'd called it barbaric and horrific and Charlie had agreed. "You can claim a dry omega, but they'll scream and they'll fight at first, eventually they'll go limp and let you do what you want when their instincts take over."_

_"I wouldn't ever want- Charlie that's rape!" Charlie's eyes had been almost sad and he'd nodded._

_"And for most omegas, the best they can hope for is an alpha who doesn't brutalise them in the process." Harry had finally lost control of his stomach. Charlie had let him vomit and his expression had turned very grave. "Harry, that's not the end of it."_

_"There's more?!" Harry had almost not wanted to hear it. He'd just been told the best he could do for the person he was going to spend his life and have children with was rape them gently. He didn't want there to be more._

_"Harry our culture, it's not nice, it shames omegas as weak and incapable, I'm sure you've heard the jokes in the common room," Harry had, he hadn't understood most of them but they were beginning to make sense now and he didn't like them, "most omegas will have been told at some point that being wet is dirty and wrong. They don't expect to be claimed wet either, don't be surprised if you try it and one freezes on you. That cultural shame, Harry, Bill's my brother, he talks to me, it took him years to get to the point he didn't go into a fit of self-loathing out when his alpha touched him and he soaked. It took him years before he finally accepted that his alpha wasn't going to reject him for it. His alpha was kind to him, patient, Bill got lucky, mum and dad always taught us that there was no shame in consenting but even he got issues that he picked up at school and from the ministry pamphlets... Apparently, omegas are supposed to be chaste, to obey, so any sign that they're not, it's drilled into them that they've done something wrong."_

_"But that's- they're built to carry children, to be loved and protected, to be cared for. why is wanting that wrong? I don't-" and that was when it had become painfully obvious how much he'd missed by being raised by muggles. "I don't understand, why is being themselves so wrong for them but as alphas, we're put on a pedestal for basically being uncontrolled animals." Charlie had stared at him like he was having an epiphany like it hadn't occurred to him to actually think that before because he was so used to the way things were._

_"Harry, if you ever figure that out, please, write it down you'll have a bestseller on your hands." Harry hadn't laughed, it wasn't funny. Charlie hadn't been joking._

=

"P-Potter-" Harry heard his name and so much more; Snape said it like he might utter a prayer for deliverance or an oath of fealty, he used the same tone a man might employ as he begged for his life or pleaded for death. Harry's whole world was thick with want, he'd almost forgotten who exactly was in his arms, he'd stopped hearing when those soft hitches of breathy pleasure had turned to pines of distress. He hadn't realised that Snape wasn't just avoiding looking at him, that he wasn't just embarrassed but that every part of him from the slump of his shoulders to the curve of his neck and the noises in his throat, he was apologising.

"No, no," Harry heard himself half whispering, voice hoarse with want and arousal, "don't ever apologise, don't," he cupped Snape's face in his hand and lifted his chin gently so their eyes met, "this," he swept his fingers between Snape's thighs, taking up a fingertip soaked in omega fluids, "get used to this," Snape's eyes snapped to Harry's so fast Harry actually slipped a hand around the man's neck to support it against the inevitable whiplash, he leaned in carefully, resuming the same soft kisses and gentle touches as he pushed the omega back onto the bed, "I won't have you dry," Snape whimpered and Harry caught himself shushing the man, knowing what he must be thinking, what he must have feared, "I won't force this, ever." Snape didn't seem to believe it as Harry eased his body forward and Snape's knees clearly parted of their own accord. The man's face flushed again, shame, self-righteous anger as he fought his own instinct to break, those emotions seemed to roll off him in waves. Harry found it endearing, more arousing somehow, to have the challenge of calming the skittish little omega and drawing him out of his shell.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience! I hope it was worth the wait, or at the very least you'e still interested in seeing whaat comes next! I promise you'll have the next chapter before Xmas, but please don't expect it before December- i already know life won't allow that!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was co-written by HecatesKiss who is fast becoming my go-to girl for help with writer's cock-block (which is definitely, officially a thing and apparently lasts at least a month longer than I thought it would!).

Severus has turned his head to one side, closed his eyes and seemed focused on nothing else but his breathing. It threw Harry right off and brought him back to his senses to see the man so limp and resigned.

 

“Hey,” he reached out and touched Severus’ cheek, lifting his face, so their eyes met when he finally opened them, “do you want this or not?” Snape seemed surprised. Harry was not pushing the compulsion; he wasn’t manipulating Severus’ body in any way that might colour his answer. Harry watched the man’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed thickly.

 

Harry had never seen an Omega at war with themselves like this. Even when Ron had been in the pits of self-loathing in the tent, Harry had never seen an Omega look so _lost_. Harry didn’t want to think it, but the truth was that it seemed Snape didn’t know what he wanted, one minute to the next. No wonder most Alphas didn’t wait, didn’t give them the chance to back down or cry off. Harry felt dirty just thinking it as his good nature warred with his good sense. Harry watched as Snape made himself lean forward and he felt slightly sick, seeing anyone forcing themselves to do something like this.

 

“You would not be here if I did not.” The whisper slipped into his ear and set his head spinning. “You should understand the nature of this beast, that being willing is not always without its difficulties,”

 

“You think I stopped because I don’t understand?” Harry pushed his Omega back onto the bed and stroked the stray hair from where it had fluttered over Severus’ cheek. The man actually blushed at the tender treatment and averted his gaze almost guiltily. “That’s why I stopped if you’ve any doubts, if you don’t-” he cust off abruptly. He wasn’t sure what he said or what changed, _maybe Snape just got a second wind?_ The Omega had reached up and wrapped an arm around Harry’s neck, pulling him back down.

 

“Take what is yours, Alpha.” He actually felt Snape’s voice hitch, felt the man’s heart hammering against his chest where they were pressed together.

 

“All or nothing.” One last dare, one last chance to back down and end this as Harry pressed himself forward. He could already feel the heat on his cock, the wetness against hard flesh pushing him to stop holding back, every instinct... screaming... at him to take the Omega under him and damn the consequences.

 

“Ev-everything, alpha...” he found something like consent, gratitude, in the glint of half-lidded eyes as Harry leaned down and pressed a kiss to the omegas lips. He drew that soft whimper of arousal and want as he pulled away and worked down the lithe body he had pinned down. Muscles flexed and fluttered under hot breath and light touche,s as he slipped his tongue into the crevice between neck and shoulder and the Omega squirmed and gasped. Hands grasping, not pushing away but pulling him closer. _Eager little Omega wanted more, did he? Well..._

 

Harry took his time, savouring the scents and the heat and he explored his Omega’s body. The sensitive spot below his fourth rib marked with a bruise sucked to the surface and an Omega squirming and gasping for more. A finger slipped between his thighs drew shivers and submission, eager knees opening and the Omega bearing his jugular and his arse as one.

 

Harry’s finger circled the opening, and his Omega keened with want, pressing himself up, wanting, offering himself... not yet, close, so close but not yet. Now it was Harry holding himself back, teasing, waiting for that moment of delicious surrender when the Omega would go from wanting to needing, from offering to begging.

 

Harry slipped a finger back there, circling the entrance lazily with the tip, spreading the warmth and wetness and the Omega cried out with want, clinging on, grasping, gasping with it.

 

“Alpha-” that was it, the moment Snape went from surrender to offering.

 

“Shh little one, let me enjoy you...” Harry might have cringed at hearing those words from his mouth in any other context, might have expected Snape to hex him into the following Tuesday if he hadn’t been whimpering quite so prettily, clinging quite so tightly and gasping quite so breathlessly. Harry was acutely aware that this was their first time, _and it mattered_.

 

He didn’t want to rush the exquisite novelty of a new, and _ohdearmerlin_ he’s completely untouched Omega... he wasn’t sure how he knew that, but he knew it like he knew his own name. _No wonder Severus had been shy!_ “...please!”

 

Harry made himself ease forward slowly, made himself hold back and make this good- there would be plenty of time for rough and fast later.

 

He felt Severus stiffen for a moment and then relax again, head turning, baring his throat. The low noise the Omega made had Harry drawing in a sharp breath, and his cock jumped, hips twitching forward. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to pull back slightly. This would not be fast, or rough. He was more than a brute.

 

He let his finger slip further in, probing gently until Severus' thighs twitched and the older man keened. He prodded at his Omega's prostate again and smirked when he realised those dark eyes were watching his face right before he nudged that gland again and they slid closed as red lips parted wetly.

 

"Please, oh Merlin, please."

 

Harry pulled his hand away from the slickness and listened to Severus as a whine worked from his throat. He shifted forward, letting the head of his cock press against his Omega's slickened opening. He coaxed Severus' knees over his elbows and then went still. Severus' eyes flew open.

 

Green and onyx gazes met. Severus shifted his hips slightly and then froze, eyes widening. Harry nodded.

 

"Go ahead, little one. Take what you want. Go on. I'm right here. And not about to go anywhere."

 

The silence hung between them, Harry was certain that even after all of his pushing, checking, confirming Snape's consent tonight that he was giving the man one last chance to back out wasn't lost on the Potions Master.

Harry blinked as he noticed Severus' wand hand was flexing against the bedspread, a tiny flicker of the older man's tongue darting across his lips. Harry paused for a moment as realisation dawned. His Omega was nervous. Nervous about... _oh... Of course!_

 

Harry took a deep breath and stilled his hips. In the next moment, he saw Severus gather his courage, and those lean hips shifted.

 

Heat and slickness slid over him, and he saw tension blaze up his lover's body as Severus pressed himself onto his Alpha's extremely interested cock. Harry was gratified to find that there was no hesitation beyond what one might reasonably expect of a nervous first timer with the age-old question still hidden in the cant of his head and the depths of his gaze. He was too distracted by the need to reassure his Omega, to give him time and space to adjust that Harry barely noticed as he was swallowed by the heat until it was far too late to do anything about it.

 

Harry's hips jerked forward, instinctively driving into his Omega and he forced himself still. This would be at Severus' pace, not what his body wanted. Slow and easy, if that's what his Omega needed. Even if it drove him insane first. As deep as he was every instinct was pushing him deeper, and it was taking all of his will to stay still.

 

The slow roll of his Omega's hips and the sharp hitch of Severus' breathing was reassuring. And then those potion stained hands reached out and tangled with his own.

 

"Potter, either fuck me or so help me, I will hex you into next year!"

 

Harry let out a low growl at the blatant attempt to control the situation. "In. My. Own. Time. Omega." he ground out harshly, too focused on the need building in his gut to care how it sounded. It was supposed to be hard, it was supposed to restablish exactly which one of them was the dominant one here- _as it seemed Snape was having difficulty remembering exactly_...

 

"I don't just **fuck**." He punctuated the word with a single sharp thrust and Severus' low gasp, and the ensuing moan sent even more blood away from Harry's brain. "You are mine, and if I want to take my time," another thrust, more gasping, a spasm like tightening and Harry had to hold back a gasp of his own. He retook the Omega's cock in his hand and stroked, just once, up the underside of the shaft with the pad of his thumb. Severus arched up into him, trying to close the now almost non-existent gap between them, to draw Harry deeper into him, meeting every twitch and jerk with equal intensity. "I will."

 

"Yes, Harry." Severus breathed, stilling as he felt the press of a thumbnail against sensitive flesh. Uneven teeth nibbled on his lower lip as dark eyes flicked open and seemed to fix on Harry's lips.

 

Harry suddenly realised, with blinding clarity, what was happening. This wasn't about making Severus beg anymore, this wasn't about making an omega plead for it to soothe his own ego. Severus was handing him so much more than that, he wasn't just offering himself, he was waiting for Harry to take him; his submission didn't come in the form of begging and pleading for release or contact like a child wanting attention- but in waiting, patiently, for his Alpha to decide.

 

Harry leaned down and nipped at the soft flesh Severus had just released from between his teeth, sucking on it just hard enough to feel it swell between his own lips.

 

Harry shifted his weight, pulling back and he felt the split second tightening of his Omega's thighs, before the man relaxed again, allowing Harry whatever he would do.

 

"Very good, little one. Legs around my waist."

 

Harry waited until those long legs were hooked around his hips and then he shifted his positioning slightly, hips rolling, seeking just the right angle.

 

He could almost feel the battle raging, Severus was ready, even eager, to respond to every touch and movement but his body, unused to such intrusion was tensing and shifting, trying to find the oft-promised pleasure and still meeting his Alpha at the angle he set.

.

Harry's gaze dropped to Severus' stomach, watching skin ripple and muscle flex as the other man fought to not move. His eyes flicked over the erection that still showed some interest. He tipped his head back as muscle fluttered and clenched around him.

 

The slightly distressed whine that worked from Severus' throat had him dropping head to meet dark eyes.

 

"Yes?" A smirk curved his lips.

 

Uneven teeth flashed as lips pulled back for a moment and legs shifted, one unwrapping briefly as he flexed his leg before wrapping again, tighter, dragging himself just a tiny bit closer.

 

Harry hissed in a breath and jerked sharply forward. Severus keened and froze, muscles tightening down even as his eyelids fluttered. For a while, he was lost in the sounds and the feeling of this pliant little Omega and the way he pined and whimpered for more every time Harry pulled back for the next thrust. Harry could feel it, they weren't going to last long- a teenager and virgin. He didn't care, his body didn't want to stop, and Severus was taking everything he had with an eagerness that more than made up for his lack of experience.

 

It happened slowly as if Harry's body had somehow sensed that Severus needed time to adjust. Harry's knot swelled as the pleasure became release and rippled over him in gentle waves. The climax, like the act itself; was soft, almost hesitant and all the sweeter for it. It left Harry with a sense of completeness that settled him, allowing him to focus on the soundtrack of a keening omega and the sight of fluttering eyelids as he let himself collapse in a sweat-soaked heap onto the bed. He pulled his omega close, into his arms, to wait out the knot. Harry dropped a kiss to Severus's cheek and took the mans lips with his mouth, sucking tenderly before licking a trail down the salt flavoured expanse of flesh that was his omegas jaw and neck. Severus bared himself almost meekly to the touch of his Alphas lips over his pulse. After decades of feigning dominance, it was easier than he expected to accept that his alpha wanted him visibly marked.

 

-

 

Hermione finished her drink pointedly and set the empty glass down. Neville and Ron exchanged knowing glances and Neville stood automatically.

 

"We probably should head back up to the castle, if only to find Harry and warn him that his private life is going to be splashed across the morning paper," Hermione said as if she had a bad taste in her mouth. Ron didn't comment, from what he'd gathered after he'd finally arrived he wasn't sure he wanted to go anywhere near Harry tonight. Nevile glanced at him.

 

"Won't Draco want to know where you are?" he asked carefully, Ron didn't flinch at the mention of his Alpha which was always a good sign with newly bonded omegas. He shook his head and answered quietly.

 

"Nah, he knows I can handle myself, and he trusts you." That threw Neville almost completely. Draco Malfoy trusted _him_ with his Omega? Ron smirked at his reaction. "He's seen you at your worst, and he knows you're honourable." Ron held up his hands in mock defence. "His words not mine. Although I agree, after everything I've heard, you did in the last couple of years..." Neville looked away to hide his flush of embarrassment, he couldn't quite get used to people talking about him like that.

 

"By all means come up to the castle Ron, but I don't think it's a good idea to go looking for Harry tonight." Hermione pulled a face.

 

"And why not?" she demanded in that way that made Neville want to roll his eyes.

 

"Because, he went to the castle alone, to visit an unbonded omega..." Hermione clearly didn't understand the implication, but Ron did, and his eyes went wide.

 

"But you said he'd gone to see Snape." Neville nodded shortly and smirked at Ron's _'Bloody Hell!'_ When he finally grasped what had happened.

 

"You don't think?" Ron asked and cut off mid-sentence as if he didn't want to think about it, "Harry isn't that crazy, is he? Snape will kill him!" Neville shrugged.

 

"It's not my job to tell my Alpha what to do Ron, only to support him and whichever omega he chooses."

 

"Neville," Ron said a little too loudly before he lowered his voice again. "Snape's dangerous, they still tell stories to new aurors about what he did to Moody when he was arrested the first time Voldemort went down. They don't say it, but I think Moody tried to corner him," Hermione cocked her head, interested, "They say it was Snape who took Moody's leg. Hit him with some dark magic curse no one had ever seen before or since. Left him bleeding and holding his own stump then willingly let himself be arrested for being a death eater by a couple of beta aurors who swore up and down they wouldn't try and touch him inappropriately."

 

Neville winced, he'd never thought Moody the type to be so callous, but he supposed it made sense. Moody had never considered Death Eaters as human, and an omega with a dark mark probably wouldn't register on his radar as more than a hot hole to plunder. No wonder Snape had avoided the funeral so pointedly. "They use it in the sensitivity training, to put the fear of the gods into alpha aurors who think they can use the uniform to get some. To teach us not to assume that omega automatically means weak. Gives the omegas a bit of a confidence boost too." Ron admitted the last with a slight straightening of his stance as if daring anyone to contradict that he wasn't perfectly capable of defending his own honour.

 

"Harry will be fine," Neville tried to sound reassuring but failed, "he's not stupid enough to try and make a grab for Snape without his consent, he sat through five years of potions too." Ron snickered, and the tension between them broke. Even Hermione managed a smile as they collected their cloaks and said their goodbyes to people as they passed on their way out the door. Ron hung back with a significant look at Neville.

 

"You really think you could do it, I mean _Snape_?" Ron asked quietly.

 

"We all followed Harry into a war, I'm not scared of Snape anymore- I spent too long trying to kill him for that," Ron snorted amusedly, "If Snape is what my alpha wants then that's what he gets."

 

"And you think Harry wants him?" Ron asked almost guardedly. Neville fixed his old dorm-mate with a look.

 

"Harry has wanted Snape since before he matured," Neville pointed out and Ron shrugged as if to agree that Neville wasn't wrong, "and I don't see any other alphas with the bollocks to approach him."

 

"That's because he's torn them off everyone who tried." Ron shot back almost snidely. He knew why Snape was so determined to be alone, a life like he'd lived Ron would have been too, but it didn't mean he respected an omega who was willing to live a lie for so long instead of submitting.

 

"Well, Harry always did know how to get under Snape's skin," Neville observed idly as they walked back towards the castle.

 

"As long as Harry still has his hide in the morning." Hermione snorted from ahead. Clearly, she'd been listening to them. Neville made a point of not asking her what she meant by that as the climbed the steps to the castle entrance hall, and the door swung open.

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after the night before...

When two people are sleeping almost completely entwined it is almost impossible for one to move even an inch without the other startling, so Severus wasn’t exactly surprised to find himself being held down by the wrists by a blindly panicked Alpha within a second of stirring that morning. It took all of three seconds for him to remember what had happened and force himself to go limp. He’d never thought he’d reach a stage in his life where the weight of an Alpha on his chest would make him feel safe enough to be instantly soaked in arousal, but he hadn’t expected to live this long either, so what did he know?  
  
Harry stared down at his Omega, a warm feeling of contentment spreading through his chest. He leaned down carefully and pressed his lips to the deep purple bruise he’d left right above Severus’ pulse the night before. The soft whine of submission eased from Severus’ throat and brought a smile to Harry’s lips.  
  
“Good morning,” Harry felt more than heard the slow intake of breath, and low murmured response as he eased up and flicked a stray hair from where it had fallen across Severus’s face, “how are you?” No response for a moment and then a smile. It obliterated the frown lines and took ten years from the Omega’s face. Harry pulled them to their feet by the side of the bed and swept the Omega into his arms. He leaned down slowly and pressed his lips to Severus’s. Feeling the man melt into it made Harry’s heart swell with feeling. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to the soft noises of pleasure Severus made when he was touched, and he knew he didn’t want to -he wanted them to always be novel and wonderful and to make his stomach do little backflips of joy.  
  
-  
  
It seemed that by mutual and unspoken agreement they were going to take a private breakfast in Severus’ quarters. Severus hesitated when he stepped into the small kitchen diner they had been drinking in the night before. He glanced at the table and then Harry for a moment as if unsure. Harry pointedly gave him no instruction and his expression must have told Severus not to ask for it. To Severus it must have felt like a test, to Harry he was trying to give Severus space to adjust and set his own boundaries. He caught himself admiring the slender curve of Severus’s arms and the way the long sleeved tee shirt the man was wearing clung to him.  
  
“With your leave, Alpha.” Severus finally gestured to the seat at the breakfast table questioningly, and Harry nodded, tension easing from his shoulders as he took the chair opposite and the table filled with food. Severus made no move to eat or fix himself a plate. Harry blinked slightly and understood.  
  
“How do you normally breakfast, Omega- mine.” Severus shivered slightly at Harry’s deliberate use of the term even as the magical warmth of his Alpha’s words deeper into his bones. Harry picked it up from a couple in the Gryffindor common room, fascinated by the way the Omega in that pair had relaxed completely on hearing it and his Alpha had used it to keep him sedate when an argument had broken out.  
  
“Your Omega usually takes a light breakfast of toast and coffee in the week, and something more substantial when time permits on weekend mornings, Alpha.” Harry had to admit Severus had been very thorough in his answer but it didn’t explain why Harry felt uneasy about it. He made a point of piling Severus’ plate with bacon and sausage before adding egg and tomato. Severus didn’t look up.  
  
“Eat, Omega, no restrictions.” Harry was suddenly glad he remembered that. Severus would be fighting the back end of the season for the next few days, and Harry wanted to kick himself for not waiting until the New Year like he’d promised. Severus was in for a rough week or so because Harry hadn’t had the self-control to wait. He sighed and served himself some bacon that he wrapped in a slice of toast. He noted absently that they were alike in their eating habits, always keeping a hand free. Harry didn’t comment on it- he’d only really started sitting for meals after the last trial and the last of the death eaters had been captured or killed. They ate in companionable silence for a while until a tap at the window breached the peace. Harry was still jumpy and had gone for his wand. Severus shot him a placating look.  
  
“The morning paper, M- Alpha.” And Harry suddenly understood why Severus calling him Alpha like that was making his teeth itch. He’d nearly slipped and called Harry ‘Master’, and they both knew it. Harry had seen Severus at Voldemort’s feet enough to know where that habit came from. Severus let the owl in and collected the paper in silence without looking at it. Harry twisted on his chair to face Severus, he offered the paper to Harry without a word. It wasn’t Severus’s paper anymore, it was Harry’s. Harry felt a little lost for a moment, and then he realised that Severus’s hand was trembling as he took the paper and set it aside. He took Severus’s hand, and the Omega obeyed the light tug on it automatically. Harry made a point of putting his arms around the man bracingly and nuzzled into his hair. He felt Severus relax against him as Harry left his scent on the man like perfume- a dab of it behind his ear.  
  
“I am your Alpha,” Harry told him softly, “but you are and always will be your own Master, Omega-mine.” Severus went limp with relief. The distinction was a subtle one that Harry had hoped Severus might not need clarifying. A lot of Alpha’s didn’t bother or even know of it, and probably wouldn’t notice their Omega calling them Master on occasion. Harry only knew because Ron had mentioned once that he wanted an Alpha and not a Master. A Master wouldn’t let him work or even think for himself in extreme cases. Ron wanted submission, not slavery. Apparently, he’d found that with Malfoy. Harry had decided to reserve judgement. Harry picked up the paper and froze when his own surname jumped out at him from the headline.  
  
_**Possessive Potter and Longbottom Line Heir?- a report by Rita Skeeter**.  
_  
Harry swore. He was going to _wring Rita’s neck!_ Severus had reflexively jumped away from him at his curse and flinched when Harry raised his wand. Harry’s Patronus appeared between them, and Severus didn’t say a word. The stag opened its mouth, and Harry spoke quickly.  
  
“I’ve just seen the paper, I’m with Severus in his quarters get down here now and bring Denis with you. Any Omega linked to me is in danger right now.” Harry didn’t wait for prongs to disappear before he stepped forward and cupped Severus’s face in his hands. “I can and will protect you, little one, if you trust me?” Severus nodded and let out a low sound like he’d been trodden on when Harry pulled him close. Harry had hands on him in an instant, checking for injury.  
  
“I am well Alpha, simply startled.” Harry let out a whoosh of breath as relief washed over him.  
  
“I should have asked, any soreness or pain after last night, little one?” Severus shook his head, and Harry bit back a surprised response. An Omega with a virgin hole wasn’t sore after his first time? _Somehow he didn’t believe it_. Severus stilled. He wouldn’t meet Harry’s gaze for a second.  
  
“Actually... A little, Alpha.” He winced as I’d expecting Harry to flip on him for lying. Harry reached out and petted his hair almost soothingly.  
  
“Good, very good Omega-mine,” Severus relaxed at the term, “you are correct. I always want the truth from you, even- especially- if you think I won’t like it. Understood?”  
  
“Yes, Alpha.”  
  
-  
  
“What happened, Nev? Why are we on the front page of the _Prophet_?”  
  
“Some auror tried it on Harry, he wasn’t taking no for an answer, and I didn’t want to start a duel at Moody’s funeral.” Harry nodded tightly. He didn’t like it but he understood, and he didn’t blame Neville.  
  
“Did he touch you?” Harry asked carefully. Neville didn’t startle, but it was a close thing.  
  
“Harry-“  
  
“Answer the question, _Beta_. Did he touch you?” And that was when Neville knew Harry’s hormones were all over the place, he never invoked Neville’s status like that- ever. He could practically feel the rage rolling off Harry as he took a knee and placed his wand before his Alpha. This was the traditional method for placating an angry Alpha, it had been drilled into him from birth. He could almost hear Gran’s lecture; _Give them control and don’t challenge them. Hormonal Alphas are too quick to become homicidal Alphas. They don’t respond well to challenges._  
  
“On the shoulder, as he leaned in to speak, Alpha.” Neville supplied quickly without looking up, he’d offered Harry his neck, and it wasn’t a good idea to all-but prostrate himself and then lie or try and manipulate the truth.  
  
“Before or after you told him ‘no’ the first time?” Ron had gone drip white at watching Harry dominate Neville so completely, he kept glancing at Severus as if for guidance. The Potions Master, for his part, was staying well out of the way and glaring at Ron to do the same while hoping he’d take the hint to keep Creevey _quiet_.  
  
“After.” Neville winced at Harry’s roar of fury.  
  
“I’ll rip his fucking head off! _How dare he!_ Who was he?” Harry demanded. The auror hadn’t just touched what was his, _he’d fucking violated Neville_. Harry wasn’t sure he’d ever felt so violently murderous in his life.  
  
“No,” Neville said quietly. The problem with tradition was that Harry wasn’t a traditional Alpha and he wasn’t placated by the ceremony. Neville still hadn’t looked up.  
  
“What?” Harry’s tone shook with danger, Ron took a step back and pulled Denis with him out of Harry’s line of sight.  
  
“I said _no_. He does not deserve to be killed for a little aggressive flirting.” Neville had refrained from calling Harry his Alpha with that comment,; this wasn’t about their dynamic, this was about reminding Harry that he couldn’t judge every Beta on an Alpha’s terms for his Omega no matter how protective of Neville he was or where they were in the season. He tended to forget when he got into one of his moods.  
  
“I didn’t ask your _opinion_ , Beta. I asked his name.” Neville sighed and stood slowly, well aware that he’d deliberately left his wand on the ground and was taking his life in his hands.  
  
“I said _no_ , I handled it,” Harry growled and noted the way Severus jumped forward ever so slightly -probably out of the habit of protecting Neville for years from blowing himself up. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he registered amusement that the Omega was trying to protect the Beta from their Alpha. Traditionally, It wasn’t supposed to be that way, but for the three of them, it fit somehow. “Just like I will handle this fallout. At your side, Alpha, not two steps behind you.”  With three Omega’s in the room, Neville’s words should have caused an uproar, but none of them was of a mind to put themselves in Harry’s line of sight to do it. Harry was absently aware of Severus reaching out a hand and signalling to Ron who passed Denis into his care. Severus pulled the pair of them into another room. The air cleared in seconds, and Harry realised what had happened.  
  
“Denis has gone into heat?” He asked apologetically. Neville nodded.  
  
“Last night, Clever of Professor Snape to realise and get him out.” Harry quirked his lip in acknowledgement of Neville’s observation. They both knew that Severus wouldn’t consider that more than plain common sense.  
  
“So now I’m feeling less like killing someone, tell me you broke a couple of the bastard’s fingers at least?” Neville half smiled.  
  
“Didn’t have to. Humiliated him in front of half the Auror Corp. he’ll always be the one who got too drunk and couldn’t handle himself at _Moody’s_ wake.” Harry made an impressed sound.  
  
“No coming back from that.” Neville didn’t answer. “Alright. I’ll take that as justice. Now, what do we do about the story?” Neville sighed and picked up his wand, ignoring Harry’s low-albeit-affectionate mutter that he was a ‘complete nutter’ to have taken the knee so quickly.  
  
-  
  
“No! We can’t leave Neville with him.” Denis’ distress was bleeding out of his very pores as Severus locked the door with a spell Ron had never seen. “Please. Please don’t let him hurt him.” Severus and Ron exchanged a look and knew they were agreed. They were more concerned with keeping Denis out of the firing line.  
  
“He won’t.” Ron’s expression betrayed the lack of confidence that he’d managed to keep from his voice. “Neville can handle Harry, they’re matched for a reason...” Ron’s words were still uneasy. Severus didn’t speak from his position by the door- chosen specifically so he could listen and protect the other two Omega’s in the room. He would fling himself into his Alpha's path if necessary to protect the child. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d put himself between a student and danger. He was so intent on listening for the sound of raised voices that he jumped when the floo in this room flared to life.  
  
“Unsecured floo,” the Malfoy Omega responded like an auror. Apparently, the training was working, “incoming.” He had his wand out and had put himself between the floo and the other occupants of the room.  
  
“Severus!” The shout through the flames did nothing to soothe anyone’s tattered nerves. “Severus are you there, please. Answer me!”  
  
“Draco… What has happened?” He tried to keep his voice steady.  
  
“My Omega is at the school with Longbottom, I need to get to him, please. You know the head won’t take my call.” Severus ignored Ronald’s low gasp of recognition.  
  
“Come through,” Severus said after a beat in which he decided not to lower his wand when Draco had arrived. Draco seemed to expect it.  
  
“Draco Malfoy knows the location of the safehouse.” He didn’t phrase it like a question.  
  
“The safehouse is at number forty-two Spinner’s End.” Severus lowered his wand. Only Draco would get both the house number and street name correct. Not the house Severus had been raised in but the address of a woman he considered something of an honorary aunt in the same row.  
  
“Your Omega, Mister Malfoy.” Draco blinked, looked at Ron and crossed the room to him in three strides. Seeing the Alpha and Omega unite made Severus’s heart pang nervously, he couldn’t imagine ever being that open with his Alpha.  
  
“That was quick, how-?”  
  
“Happy coincidence,” Severus muttered coolly, “he was already here.” Draco nodded and caught sight of Denis. He frowned and drew himself from the relieved kiss he’d instigated the second he had reassured himself that Ron had no injuries.  
  
“Don’t I know you?” He asked, Denis, nodded shakily but didn’t give a verbal answer and Severus shifted just-so, in case Draco took offence at the boy’s appalling manners. “I didn’t know you were an Alpha?”  
  
“I- I’m not sir.” Denis’s voice shook. Draco cast a confused look around the room, and Severus noticed his grip on Ronald tighten.

  
“But there’s an Alpha in here.” He stated without preamble. “I can smell him.” Draco had known what Severus was since before he’d set foot in Hogwarts he wouldn’t mistake his godfather for anything else.  
  
“That would be my Alpha you can smell, Mister Malfoy.” Severus found himself falling back on old formalities.  
  
“Your-? Excuse me? Since when?” Severus knew he was on thin ice. If his Alpha took issue with him revealing his status, it would not be pretty and would be even worse if Draco tried to cause a scene.  
  
“Since yesterday.” Draco took the hint and nodded. His Omega had said something quietly in his ear, and Draco’s head snapped up back to fix Severus with a look of horror.  
  
“He didn’t give chase- did he?” Draco asked, his breath short. Severus swallowed down his nerves. Draco was skilled, but he wasn’t overly powerful. He would get himself killed if he tried to intervene. He could just imagine what Ronald had said to garner that reaction. Probably some observation on his own behaviours this morning.  
  
“Do I appear broken to you?” Severus asked softly, making a point of lifting his arms and pushing up his sleeves as if to invite Draco to take a closer look. The only mark on him was the love-bite on his neck, and Draco would know what that was without needing it clarified. Severus wasn’t on his knees. Draco could infer the rest.  
  
“You let him in?” Draco asked carefully, and Severus nodded as he held an absent hand out to Creevey and the boy accepted the offered protection by stepping into his arms.  
  
“He took great care.” He stated quietly, and Draco accepted it with a quirk of his lips.  
  
"I'll let father know to call off the hounds." He quipped shortly. Severus snorted and Denis jumped before he buried his face against Severus’ chest.  
  
"Your father knows better than to think I would leave much for the hounds were any Alpha to make a violent attempt." Draco laughed at the comment, he knew Severus and Lucius had been in school together and how deep the friendship truly was. Severus noted that he didn’t ask who the Alpha was.  
  
“He better have shown the proper respect.” Ronald made a low, amused sound at Draco's insistence on it. “So why are you barricaded in here?” Draco asked after a moment.  
  
“The headline, Alpha.” Ron murmured into his Alpha's neck, “Harry’s not happy someone tried to touch Neville and Denis is in heat.” Over the smell of another Alpha Draco hadn’t even noticed. Draco didn’t understand what Ron meant. He fixed Severus with a questioning look.  
  
“It is never wise to come between an Irate Alpha and his Beta.” Draco paled slightly as the final piece of the jigsaw slipped into place; he fully understood.  
  
“You mean... it’s Potter,” Severus had to force himself not to step backwards, “Potter’s the Alpha who claimed you?” Severus nodded once. It was a good job Draco was holding his Omega, or he might have done something stupid. A knock at the door cut off what would have undoubtedly been an ill-advised tirade.  
  
-  
  
The door swung open, and Severus couldn’t help it; he automatically pushed Creevey behind the desk and sank to his knees the moment his Alpha’s scent hit him. The metallic cut of rage permeated the room in an instant and left a coppery taste on Severus’ tongue.  
  
“Malfoy.” Severus flinched. He’d been caught in a room that _he’d_ locked from the inside, with another Alpha and no Beta present, less than twenty-four hours after being claimed. He should have known better.  
  
“Master please-“ the plea slipped from him before he could stop it. There was a child in the room. _Please don’t hurt the child for my error_. He didn’t think he could stand to watch another child suffer for his faults again.  
  
“Don’t call me that, Omega, on your feet and hold your tongue.” Malfoy was staring at Harry in confusion, and he didn’t like it. He didn’t want Severus grovelling like that, it turned his stomach, which was why he hadn’t looked at the man as he’d issued the order to stand. It had made his tone harsher than he meant it to be. “What are you doing here, Malfoy?”  
  
“Protecting my Omega, my apologies for the intrusion. I was not aware of recent changes.” He glanced at Severus and Harry growled out a warning. Malfoy didn’t take the hint to back off, and instead, he let go of Ron and approached Harry with all the bravado of a man who knew _exactly_ who and what he was.  
  
“Hurt him Potter, and every Slytherin who has passed through this school in the last twenty years will come for you. And I will be leading them. _Do we understand each other_?” Harry kept his expression impassive. He knew exactly how loyal Slytherin students were to Snape, he’d seen them kill and die for the man. Several had tried to bargain for his freedom when it had been in doubt by laying themselves on the line last year during his trial  
  
“Remember Malfoy, he still has six living brothers. All battle hardened. We _will_ protect him.” Harry jutted his jaw out towards Ron who opened his mouth and then snapped it shut quickly without a word. “And his sister is not to be tangled with either.” Malfoy met Harry’s gaze, and for a second the atmosphere turned electric before Harry grinned and offered the blond his hand. “Welcome to the family, Draco.” Draco took it and shook firmly.  
  
“And you, Harry.”  
  
-  
  
Severus hadn’t moved from where he’d stood at his Alpha’s command. He was holding Denis against his chest, in his terror, the young Omega had forgotten that he was clinging to his scary Potions Master and Severus seemed to have forgotten everything but the fact that he needed to protect the boy. He took two steps back when his Alpha tried to approach. He didn’t care if it was disrespectful. He would not allow one of his students to come to harm. _Never again.  
_  
“Denis,” Neville’s voice was low and soothing, and Severus loosed his grip slightly as the young Omega reacted, ”why don't you go get some breakfast with Ron and Draco?” Severus understood; Neville wanted the room cleared before Alpha passed his judgement. They were of one mind that the boy shouldn’t be on the receiving end of Alpha’s wrath for Severus transgression. The young man leaned into him and looked up questioningly. Severus nodded, keeping his head bowed as he let go of Denis and the boy all but scampered to the Malfoy Omega.  
  
“Harry,” Alpha didn’t seem to be any calmer if his scent was anything to go by and his friend’s call didn’t make much difference.  
  
“Enjoy your breakfast, guys, we’ll be through in a bit.” His voice was flat, and Severus couldn’t help the terror that welled up in his chest. He’d gone soft in the year since the war, he wouldn’t withstand any sort of punishment of the like he had once been accustomed to anymore. He’d been ordered to his feet, but every instinct was screaming at him to kneel again. A direct Order versus his Instinct, _no contest_. He slipped his hands behind his back and kept his head bowed as his Alpha’s footsteps approached. It took all his will not to show fear, to keep his eyes open.  
  
Alpha’s hand touched his face, and Severus twitched nervously. For the first time in a long time, he caught himself occluding to try and stay in control. He knew better than to speak.  
  
“Draco considers you family _, Omega-mine_.” Severus didn’t answer the implied question. He wasn’t about to anger his Alpha further by speaking out of turn even as his body betrayed him and relaxed into the touch. “He thought to call you first when he received Neville’s message that Ron was at Hogwarts.” Silence. “You let him in. He’s familiar with the layout of your quarters.” It suddenly occurred to Severus that Alpha wasn’t just thinking out loud, that this was the reading of charges. Severus brutally repressed the urge to try and defend himself.  
  
“I can just imagine the state Denis and Ron were probably in,” Alpha spoke softly, “I can still smell the fear in here,” Alpha leaned in close and nuzzled himself into Severus’s hair. Severus didn’t dare move. “Very good Omega, remember, I fell for your mind first.” Severus swallowed the lump in his throat. It burned on the way down. “I want you to think for yourself Omega-mine.” His choice of words, forcing Severus to relax against his will rather belied the sentiment. Alpha pulled him close and rested a firm palm on his lower back, holding him in place. “You will find, little one, that I am rather possessive and I protect what is mine.” Severus nodded, still well aware that he hadn’t been given leave to speak. Alpha had been calling him that all morning and it wasn’t as irritating as he had expected it to be. “But I like to think I’m not a tyrant... say something?” Severus swallowed again.  
  
“Alpha, I...” he was helpless to it, there was no safe way of talking his way out of this. A finger under his chin drew Severus’s head up, so they were looking at each other. Soft lips pressed into his own and Severus keened under the touch; his body, still sensitive to his Alpha after the night before, shifting and pressing closer offering anything and everything Alpha wished to take. Alpha drew the soft bereft sound from him easily when he lifted away, and the young man smiled almost kindly. “Later Omega, more later.” Alpha spent several second scenting him, pressing his face into the spot just behind Severus’s ear and leaving traces of himself there. He seemed to have claimed that spot for the job. Severus let his instinct lead him to bare his neck and give his Alpha better access. When he was satisfied that his scent would stay there, he smiled against Severus’s neck and dropped an almost chaste kiss to the marked flesh under his lips. Severus shifted uncomfortably, it was becoming quickly apparent that he was going to need a change of underwear before he stepped out of these quarters if Alpha carried on much longer. He stopped and even though Severus was horrified that he’d reacted so strongly he gripped his Alphas shirt and held on, the need to be close overriding everything else.  
  
“Alpha,” his voice was hoarse with arousal and want, he hated himself for it, and he couldn’t help listening to the tiny vindictive voice in the back of his mind that insisted that no Alpha wanted a needy little slut and he should stop it before he got himself rejected. Alpha kissed the side of his head and eased away more slowly. “Neville Longbottom is my Beta,” Alpha kept his voice low as if he knew Severus was off-kilter, “in my absence you defer to him, he is responsible for your care and protection.” Severus went still. “We don’t keep a strictly traditional dynamic,” Alpha continued, “and privately we hardly keep one at all, save what our instincts demand.” His mind was whirring trying to keep up. “Do you understand what I’m telling you, Severus?” He did now. The use of his name catalysed something, brought him crashing back to earth and righted his mind in an instant. He released Potter’s shirt and nodded.  
  
“Understood. Alpha.” He glanced past Harry and nodded once to Longbottom who smiled and nodded back at him. “Beta.” He acknowledged Longbottom flatly knowing better than to think he’d get away with more than that with his Alpha holding him.  
  
“The past stays there, Understood?” Alphas tone was almost stern. It took Severus a moment to notice that the question required an answer and what it was in reference to.  
  
“Understood, Alpha.” He didn’t agree but damn if Potter wanted to give him an out for the way he’d treated both of them for years then _he wasn’t going to check that hippogriff for teeth._  
  
“Sure, Har,” Severus twitched and had to bite back a retort that Longbottom should have some respect for the Alpha, “I won’t hold it against you if you need a bit of time to get used to the idea I’m not trying to poison you though.” Longbottom directed straight at Severus. He couldn’t think of an appropriate response- he’d been almost pleasantly surprised to learn that Longbottom was a perfectly competent brewer of several lethal poisons in the year he’d been Headmaster.  
  
“You tried to poison a Potions Master, what?” Alpha sounded more amused than anything else.  
  
“It was the perfect excuse if it worked, No one was going to believe I could brew anything properly with my reputation.” Alpha actually laughed.  
  
"Several were perfectly brewed, one left Amycus Carrow in the hospital wing for week," Severus added pointedly, and the Beta blushed. Alpha was glancing between them, and Severus was aware that he'd spoken out of turn, well, it was one way of testing the claims that they weren't strict in private. Alpha's lip had turned up in amusement.  
  
"Hold on let me get this straight, you managed to brew a lethal poison... _deliberately_?" There was a teasing edge to his tone that made Beta laugh aloud.  
  
"More than one," Severus commented. "But I got the impression they were not meant for my consumption?" He'd been curious before but refrained from asking because he just hadn't had the opportunity to speak to Longbottom like this before. Beta eyed him warily.  
  
"You set detentions with Hagrid so we could communicate with the Order, let Slughorn teach healing Potions and hexed Carrow that time he started on about Halfbloods and Muggleborns polluting the bloodlines." Alpha and Beta exchanged a look, Alpha seemed surprised, "The professors missed it because they were too busy trying to keep us alive, we were the ones being tortured, so we tended to notice when we weren't."  
  
Severus hadn't realised he'd been so transparent and it took a second for him to remember that his life didn't depend on the students believing that he was loyal to the Dark Lord. "We only ever put poisons on your plate that we knew you'd spot." It took him a second to realise what Beta was saying, that they had been helping maintain his cover without being certain that he was still loyal to the Order. "Still can't believe you ate the swelling solution(!)" It had been worth the temporary inability to breathe to maintain the facade that they were targeting him, and he'd appreciated the irony of Longbottom brewing it.  
  
"I took it as a personal accolade that there were any in your merry band of Gryffindors capable of producing it." They both laughed at the quip, and Severus relaxed, if he could get away with a comment like that then he could get away with almost anything.

  
-

"We, probably shouldn't make it too obvious for now exactly what's happened here." Alpha seemed nervous, and Severus couldn't quite stop himself glaring at the paper on the table the three of them had congregated around.  "The Prophet will run this for at least a week before they get bored."  
  
"Grans going to go mad that it hit the papers before we finished school-" Beta cut off suddenly as the paper caught fire and Severus had to focus on controlling himself- he hadn't lost control like that in several years. Alpha doused it in water and then turned to him. His expression was one off understanding, Severus had a temper and with the height of the season and their new bond still unstable that was going to make itself known.  
  
“Come here, Omega,” Severus moved stiltedly, eyes downcast in silent apology. Alpha touched his hair and then tilted his head upwards. Severus resisted the urge to flinch, “I will keep you safe little one,” Alphas voice was soft, almost intimate as the half whisper snuck around the curtain of Severus’s hair and slipped into his ear. He didn’t answer, and Alpha looked up without letting go of him. “Nev? Any ideas?” Severus watched Beta shrug as Alpha’s arms wrapped around him.  
  
“I think we’ve got three, no four, options.” He paused for breath and to sip the tea Severus had placed in front of him when they had collected in the Kitchenette. “One; we carry on as normal and let them get bored.” Alphas grip on his hip was almost bruising. “Two, we” he gestured between himself and Harry, “present a united front and let them infer the rest. But you’ll have to deal with families throwing their Omegas at you so revealing that there is an Omega in the mix might ease that,” Harry noted they Neville hadn’t suggested revealing who the Omega was just yet. “Or we go the whole hog, bring a reporter to the school and the three of us give an interview.” Harry pulled a face. He hated giving interviews, and he did not want Severus to have to deal with his fame if he could help it.  
  
“What’s the fourth option?”  
  
Harry had seen a lot of frightening things in his short life, but nothing had ever made him quite so afraid than the sight of the almost manic grin that bloomed on his Beta’s lips at the question he’d just asked.  
  
-

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This whole thing got turned out in one intense writing session with HK, I have tinkered very little between zero draft and publishing because it just doesn't need it. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing it.

“Harry we need to go, we’ve got Kingsley in ten minutes,” Neville commented with a pointed glance at his watch. Now that the moment had come to leave Harry couldn’t quite help it, he didn’t want to. He wanted to stay, he wanted to keep him Omega safe and his Beta here with them. “Har…” Neville’s warning tone interrupted the longing look he had fixed on his Omega’s back; Severus had begun to clear away cutlery as if he'd completely forgotten that Hogwarts had house elves for a moment. Or maybe he just didn’t want to deal with any more awkwardness right now.

“Did you read ahead?”

“Yeah, today is Secrets of the Darkest Arts chapter six dark curses and rituals,” Harry jumped at the title.

“You’re joking?” Neville shrugged.

“Er, no, its a set text... didn’t you buy a copy?” Harry swore at his beta’s answer; they both knew he’d been a bit busy to do more than read the book list over the summer and had been playing catch up all year with class reading. He watched Severus visibly flinch at the sound as the curse slipped from him but didn’t comment on the significant look Neville sent his way. “Why?”

“No way Kingsley set that textbook, it’s been removed from the Hogwarts library for decades.” Neville started.

“how would you even know that?” Severus had turned and was staring blankly at him, they both knew exactly what was in that chapter and were probably equally willing to wring Kingsley’s neck for suggesting it.

“Nev, that’s the chapter on Horcruxes, and it’s pretty explicit.”

“Well, I mean… he’ll probably gloss over that and focus on the other stuff in there….”

“Like what? How to raise an army of inferni or golems? Even Hermione never finished it, Nev, she hardly slept a week when we were trying to figure out how to destroy that damn locket without a Basilisk fang.” Neville stared at Harry for a moment, computing what he’d just said.

“Are we going or not?”

Harry sighed and in an old nervous habit he’d never quite shaken he rubbed at his scar tiredly.

“Yeah, we better do.”

-

Kingsley wouldn’t look at Harry as he started the lecture and he seemed determined not to give anyone the opportunity to speak for the first twenty minutes. Finally, he completed that section of the class and called for questions. A few hands went up, including Harry’s.

“Sir, most of us have never dealt with a golem in person _, thank Merlin_ , but the things in that chapter aren’t what most of us think of anyway. Can we still defend against things like it with fire?” Ginny's question was a good one, but Harry was too busy glaring daggers at Kingsley to appreciate it.

“And who suggested fire as a defence against these creatures to you, Miss Weasley?” Harry finally lost it.

“Snape taught it to all years when inferni were still probable options,” Harry barked out, “and a few of us have actually seen what fire does to Inferni when you’re powerful enough to conjure something decent.” Seeing the look on the older man’s face, Harry continued, “Dumbledore. The night he died. He dealt with a nest of those things. It was… awe-inspiring.”

Kingsley actually smiled, and Harry nearly went for his throat when he saw it. Only Neville’s hand on his thigh under the desk kept him seated.

“And is there anyone other than Mister Potter who has experience of these… things?”

“They're not things, _Shacklebolt_ , they’re abominations and teaching them to seventeen-year-olds who know what it is to fear death is horrendous.” Silence had descended over the classroom. “Who here still has nightmares about that last year? Because I know I do. I know Neville does.” He fixed his beta with an apologetic look as the words slipped out, “ _Fuck…_ Gin?” The redhead nodded at his unvoiced question.  


“Yeah. Some of it is older stuff. First Year. That... Some of it is last year too. You know… the things you remember… it’s odd,” She paused as if steeling herself to speak, “Snape? Once caught me out on the Third Floor. He pinned me up against the wall, and a hand slid down my arm. I almost puked, I thought he was softening me up for Carrow- or having a go himself... and then he stepped back, and I was holding a vial of dreamless sleep. Just _gave_ it to me, under the guise of threatening me.” Ginny didn't seem to want to stop once she started talking. Harry glanced at Kingsley, he’d never seen the man look so pale. “He kept me safe that night by doing that, Amycus had been leering at me over dinner, but I heard him grousing that he didn’t want Snape’s sloppy seconds, something about the headmaster and redheads...”

 

Simon stood, the boy cleared his throat awkwardly, deflecting, “Yeah. Remember that time he hexed me into a drooling mess? I think he borrowed a spell from the Weasley Twins… because I couldn’t stop until Seamus got the antidote down my throat. It was just there in the Gryffindor common room when we got back. It impressed Alecto though, she let me off being a being a Half-blood that day with just that hex, not the _crucio_ I’d been expecting.”

 

Neville took a shuddering breath and stood slowly, Harry fixed him with a stare.

“And what do you do?” Harry cut in to give Neville a moment to really think about what he’d been about to say about their Omega. Neville seemed grateful for the chance to think about how he wanted to word it without revealing everything about their private lives to a full classroom, “you hand the most damaged kids to come through this class since Voldemort _his-fucking-self_ a how-to guide on being the next one!”

 

“Knowledge is power. But some powers? Deserve to be lost to time.” Luna murmured from her place behind Harry. Harry twitched and nodded once, sharply, sick to his stomach at the thought that the information was right in front of them. Only a few more books, which he knew were at Grimmauld -- because Hermione had set them aside on their own shelf -- were all that would be needed to cross check to figure out how to _completely_ make one of the things. And if you weren’t interested in doing research properly, you didn’t even need those books if you had this one.

“But that’s why you put it on the syllabus isn’t it, Professor?” Hermione’s voice rang clear through the room. “It seems to me like we all passed your little test.”

 

“You weren’t here, last year, Auror.” Neville snarled, and Harry rose from his seat to place a hand on his beta’s wand arm. “You didn’t have to question every single move you made. You mostly cowered, plotted, and hid behind safe walls while the _rest_ of us faced down a pair of fucking death eaters and the occasional visit from Greyback.”

 

When Ginny and Luna both made choked little noises of fear; Harry and Neville both split up, Neville going to Ginny and Harry dropping back to Luna’s chair, brief touches asking if they were all right.

 

“Greyback was… vile. Twisted. Headmaster Snape once dragged me to his office to get me away from that thing. He practically carried me up the stairs, threw me through the door like nothing. He fed me all these potions and carried me into his own quarters. He stood guard over me the entire night.” Neville was staring over at Luna.

“Luna,” She glanced up at him, her movements twitchy and afraid as if she expected to be attacked, “that was the night before the duel, wasn’t it?” Luna nodded once, Harry glanced at them in confusion. Neville levelled his gaze on Harry. “Greyback had half the DA in the Great Hall, Harry, they were expecting someone else, the rumour was Voldemort himself, but we never found out. Greyback scented out Colin that night, got obsessed with him.” Harry’s eyes went from Neville to Denis who looked like he was about to throw up, “Greyback grabbed hold of him, tried to take him out right there.”

 

“I tried to distract Greyback,” Luna said. “He wasn’t too happy about it, but it shifted his focus slightly… j-just enough, I got his attention.”

Neville spoke again, “it gave Snape an in, no one knows exactly what he did... but Greyback didn't come back for a month, I wouldn’t want to piss him off by asking, but I had three galleons that he castrated the furry _fucker_.” Harry wasn’t sure if he was more shocked at the tale or the language. He was very glad he hadn’t known that story the day before or he might never have worked up the nerve to knock on Severus’ door last night.

 

“Greengrass pushed me towards Smith… and Smith? He got me out of the room while Greyback was distracted. I didn’t leave the Room for a month.” Denis admitted, hunching his shoulders.

“Why did Greyback go for Colin?” Harry frowned if they wanted to talk he’d carry on asking his questions.

“He felt threatened, Colin had hit his inheritance…” Neville said softly, “He was an Alpha, Harry, and powerful. Greyback didn’t like it.”

 

Harry closed his eyes and bowed his head for a moment, letting the ache rise, but swallowing back the noise he wanted to give as grief tried to choke him. He shook it off and met Denis’ gaze squarely and then nodded once, showing his respect. Denis blinked but met his look with pride.

 

“Kingsley? Sorry but... This was a bad chapter … for all of us. I’m amazed most got through the reading. Or did you cut it short, Hermione?”

 

“Two-thirds of the way, Harry. I just… couldn’t.” Hermione shivered, a hand coming up to trace her neck and Harry nodded and looked away. He could still remember the days when the locket tried to choke him when the sword burned in his grip, and air seemed too far away.

 

“I didn’t even get _that_ far,” Denis shook his head. “Too many things in there are… like Luna said, better forgotten.” Kingsley seemed to have heard enough, but Harry wasn’t finished.

“And these are the kids you thought it was a good idea to teach how to make Horcruxes, personal bodyguard golems and who knows what else? Like we wouldn’t be tempted if we weren’t already so traumati--” Harry cut off abruptly as he realised what Hermione had meant.

 

“You _Bastard_!” Harry dropped his hands onto the desk and leapfrogged it in one movement.

“Harry!” It was Hermione who screamed loudest, but she wasn’t the only one, Neville had just missed the spot he’d tried to grab on Harry’s arm to pull him back, and even Luna had stepped into formation around the Professor and student. Harry had his wand stuck squarely in Kingsley’s throat. He wasn’t going to back down from this; he was well aware that at least half of his response was Denis’ scent in the room but the other half really was pure, righteous rage that Kingsley had dared do this to _his_ friends. That he’d mentally tortured the students Harry had been responsible for when they had formed the DA. Kingsley wasn’t about to drop his wand or offer his neck, he was an Alpha, his pride wouldn’t let him back down.

“Give me a reason!” Harry stared into Kingsley's eyes, he didn't have to say that he’d killed as revenge for less than what Kingsley had put his friends through this week. Kingsley already knew he’d seen all of it when they cast _Priori Incantatem_ on Harry’s wand after the battle.

“Harry!” Neville tried as he pulled Ginny back, she’d get herself killed if she stepped between them now and seemed to be the only one with the courage to try.

“I’m begging you, just one _little_ reason.”

“Harry! Think about Teddy, would Padfoot really want you to make his mistakes?” Hermione asked, voice brittle. Harry didn’t look away from the other Alpha, but he allowed the snarl to relax. He hadn’t realised who he was unconsciously parroting with that little display, but Hermione’s words had brought the memory rushing back.

 

“No.” Harry saw confusion in the Order Member’s eyes as he stepped back a pace, but he kept his wand up. “Know this, Auror. And make sure you tell them back at the Ministry too… we brought one government down when they underestimated us and treated us like criminals, we _will_ do it again if we have to.”

“Damn right we will!” Denis piped up, tone hard and eyes blazing with rage as he too had realised what the entire point of this had been, Harry was vaguely aware of the sound of hinges squeaking as a door opened somewhere. “We will always be _Dumbledore's Army_ .” Harry nearly dropped his wand, _of course,_ they would still feel strongly about it. “And if you think that we need golems and Horcruxes when we have each other…”

“Then it’s pretty obvious you missed the whole point!” Ginny sniped out harshly.

“Of course they did, Miss Weasley.” Absolute stunned, dead silence followed the pronouncement. No one had been watching the door or seen Kingsley reach back and pass his fingers over the orb on the corner of his desk. Harry had been wondering for weeks what they were and now the one in this classroom was spinning and had lit up he realised that it reminded him a little of a Sneakoscope. “They were not here to witness the bonds forged amongst prisoners of war.”

Harry stepped back as every student between Severus and Kingsley stepped aside. Severus was staying carefully several feet away as if he knew that getting too close to Harry might be too much for the young Alpha to take and retain his composure right now. He was dimly aware of Minerva in the doorway. “I must insist that you lower your wand, _Mister_ Potter.” Severus’ voice was tight, too tight, but most would assume that even the Unflappable Severus Snape wasn’t entirely immune to the inherent danger of this situation. Harry didn’t do it, he couldn’t let go of the last spark of rage that would let him allow Kingsley to walk away from this unscathed. “The headmistress will not appreciate you forcing her to find a replacement defence professor in the middle of the school year.” Severus let a pause pass between them. “Unless this is your bid statement that you intend to take up the mantle yourself?” His expression and tone both turned almost musing, “Having defence professors duel to the death for the job… perhaps the concept is not entirely without merit.”  Harry very nearly laughed aloud at the quip, it cut through the last of the tension in the room in a heartbeat as he dropped his wand to his side and pocketed it.

 

“If that happened? I’d be facing you next, and then the Headmistress would be having both our heads.” Harry shot back as he shook his head slightly and smirked. He saw those dark eyes flare wide for a moment before the mask settled over his lover’s face again. Severus managed to feign something like amusement as Kingsley’s shoulders slumped and he rubbed his neck with a pointed glare at Harry. Harry wasn’t quite in the mood to make peace just yet.

 

“Yes, I would, gentlemen.”

“Class dismissed, no homework.” Kingsley choked out. No one moved as the bell rang overhead.

“Anyone late for their next lesson will not be pardoned.” Professor McGonagall's tone allowed for no argument, and her words seemed to force most people to stand and leave. A core group stayed right where they were, Denis stumbled trying to get past them and tripped into Severus who caught him almost automatically.

“Do mind where you are walking, Mister Creevey,” Severus started to say, “this floor space is already occupied.” He let himself smile at the young omega as Denis righted himself with a stuttered out apology and Ginny took his arm to pull him away. Severus froze when she glanced at him for a second and didn’t let go of Denis.

“Professor,” Ginny wasn’t looking straight at Severus and Severus had taken half a step back as if… Harry couldn’t believe what he was seeing, Severus _afraid_ of Ginny? That was almost the exact same look Severus had been wearing this morning when he’d been protecting Denis from Harry himself.

 

“I never got a chance to thank you,” Ginny’s voice was small but firm, “If there’s ever anything I could do to repay that.” She glanced between Denis and Severus, any idiot could see there was something there, the way Severus was protecting the young man it made her pause for a moment. Between the two of them, there was the scent of an Alpha, but she couldn’t quite place it. It jarred with the fact that she knew Harry had been protecting Denis.

 

She glanced down at the spot Snape had hold of on Denis’s arm and noted the way Denis leaned towards Professor Snape as if they were family. It took her a moment to process what she was seeing. Snape actually was protecting Denis from… her. She hadn't realised anyone had noticed and her heart rate sped up at the thought of Snape getting possessive over Denis if he’d decided he was protecting the blond. “Come on Denis, let's get out of here,” She glanced up at the Potions master under her fringe and bit her lip, “too many hormones for us, I think.” Denis nodded, and Severus released him.

“Miss Weasley,” He said shortly, making a point of keeping his gaze down in case she caught his scent amongst the hormones. “There is no debt,” She opened her mouth as if to argue and Severus barrelled right over her attempt to speak as if he hadn’t even noticed it, “however, should you wish to believe so then do me the honour of repaying it, by _living_.” He didn’t have to say the same words to Luna, a glance her way and a moment of understanding passed between them. They were halfway out the door with Denis when Severus spoke.

“Miss Lovegood,” He called out, Luna went ramrod straight as if shocked and then turned to face him, “Greyback is dead, you are not.” Luna stared at him for a moment, “despite his best efforts.” He wanted to say more, he wanted to apologise for not protecting her as well as he should have after finding that Greyback had set his sights on her and made it his mission to turn her. “You are more than capable of brewing your own potions should any employer ever question your ability to manage the symptoms.” Greyback got her when she’d spent those weeks in Azkaban awaiting her father’s decision that her life was more important to him than resisting them.

 

Harry only watched as the other students filed out, most of them deliberately laying a hand on Luna’s shoulder or touching her arm, smiling slightly to show their support. Harry gave her a small nod, and he saw bright shining relief in her eyes.

 

Hermione remained where she was, stepping closer to Harry, standing at his side, opposite Neville. When Harry took another step back, pulling himself out from between them, Neville’s hand on Hermione’s shoulder kept her from falling back with him.

 

“Professor Snape?” Harry asked, green gaze asking questions that had to remain unspoken for the moment. Severus barely lifted his chin in acknowledgement of his name being spoken by his Alpha, not quite meeting his eyes in the only subtle display of submission he could possibly get away with in this room right now. Harry tore his gaze away from his omega and met the Headmistress’ flinty-eyed stare.

 

“I will only say this once… _sit down_!”

 

Harry watched Neville and Hermione fold promptly into their seats. Severus flinched but was able to dismiss the command from the headmistress without moving. Kingsley didn’t even twitch. He only realised his lip was curled back when she gave him a pointed glare. He dipped his head slightly and folded his arms.

“This lesson will _not_ be at Hogwarts next year, _headmistress_.” Minerva met his gaze steadily.

“If it is, Mister Potter, I assure you I will not be.”

“Nor I.” Kingsley put in. “and had you asked you would already know that.” Kingsley was very lucky Harry didn’t smack him in the mouth _muggle-style_ for that comment. “The Ministry insisted on it, as Miss Granger deduced.”

“I thought we were past the days of the Ministry interfering at Hogwarts.”

 

The huff of incredulous laughter came from Severus, “ _Mister_ Potter, the Ministry never stops attempting to interfere. It is the nature of the beast, as I believe your sainted godfather  would have quipped.”

“Yes… well,” Harry started to say as he shot a glare at Kingsley, “we don’t need _another_ High Inquisitor.”

 

“Purple is about as close as I shall ever come to _pink_ , Potter. That woman was a nightmare. Yet the Ministry tasks, and we obey for the _greater good_.”

Harry physically flinched.

“Like _fuck_ we do!” Harry snapped harshly, and Neville was up, hand rising to press against the back of his Alpha’s neck, in a bid to control the meltdown that was almost inevitable from _that_ particular phrase being invoked.

“Language! Mister Potter!” Professor McGonagall's rebuke wasn’t half as harsh as she tried to pretend it was.

“Let me tell you something about the _Greater Good_ ,” Harry started coolly with a glance at Neville as if asking him not to step away just yet. “It isn’t worth the slime from a flobberworm if it doesn’t hold _each and every_ human life worth saving, and that includes protecting _children_ from themselves and their circumstances.”

 

“Potter!” Severus snapped, dark gaze distressed even as his posture was aggressive.

 

“Don’t. Don’t even bother trying to argue with me here, Snape. We both know that Dumbledore failed _all_ of us because he cared more about his precious _Greater Good_. You. Me. And Tom Riddle.”

“Harry, how can you say that! Put yourself and Professor Snape in the same category as--”

“I didn’t.” Harry ground out, voice hard and eyes harder. “Dumbledore did, the second he decided that the ten-year-old boy in an orphanage was a monster because he wanted something of his own for a change.”

 

“And what was _my_ crime?” Severus asked, face white.

 

“None, I don’t count being a poor Slytherin or pissing off my dad and his cronies just by existing a crime.”

Harry hadn’t thought it was possible for Severus to lose any more blood from his pallor, no one had ever outright said that to him before, and it knocked his worldview slightly off centre for a moment.“And Dumbledore isn’t here to ask if he did but the evidence speaks for itself.”

  


“And when I finally realised that it wasn’t my fault I happened to be _the_ half-blood born at the end of July.” Harry’s heart was pounding as he let the sentence hang. “ We _all_ served our sentences. Me? I got ten years in a fucking cupboard for having parents who loved me. You got twenty years as a spy for having parents who didn’t and _poor_ Tom Riddle… Dumbledore sentenced us to those fates; Decided he was judge, jury and executioner. I didn’t deserve it. You didn’t deserve it, and _damn it_ , Riddle didn’t deserve what he got either. If maybe, just fucking maybe one person had reached out a caring hand, we wouldn’t have had the fucking Dark Lord Voldemort to contend with.” The silence beat out like the drums of war.

“I do believe, Mister Potter, that you are in no position to pass judgement on that which others might deem criminal.” Harry glared. “Rest assured, on the topic of parents…  my father was much likelier to agree with your father’s assessment of my existence than your own.” Had Severus not been entirely thrown by the rant, the scent of sheer terror Harry was bleeding from his pores, and far too focused on trying not to let his instincts take over and settle himself at his Alpha’s feet he would never have said something so incendiary. Harry choked back a snarl of rage and spat out a mouthful of saliva hard on the stone floor.

“That.” He stamped his foot on it and twisted his ankle, working it violently into the stone. “Is what I think of your father and mine. And _anyone else,”_ He fixed Kingsley with a pointed glower _,_ “who thinks they have any right to judge anyone else and how they react to surviving abuse, neglect and a _war_!”

“This discussion ends. _Now_ . Mister Potter.” Harry glared right back at the Headmistress. “ _I_ am ending it.” Harry stared at her for a few seconds then nodded at Neville who let go of him. Hermione was staring at him.

“Well, while I have your attention,” Harry commented, “any offers for Denis Creevey go through me, I won’t have some bastard making a grab for him,” the headmistress nodded as if she agreed, “and we have a plan to manage this morning’s headline.” Both Kingsley and Minerva were interested at that.

“Oh?” Harry directed his gaze to Neville at Minerva’s questioning look. Neville plastered on a faux-innocent look and smiled.

“You know Harry, now it’s in the news I feel like we should meet up with Gran, let her grill you.” Harry spluttered at Neville’s phrasing, Neville smirked at him, and his reaction, “not afraid of her are you?” He was actually teasing.

“Of the woman who wandered into battle in a lady’s formal dress robes, said hello as if we were passing in Diagon Alley on a normal shopping day then excused herself to go find you as if she was stepping away from a meal to have a cigarette...?” Neville shrugged. “Terrified. And I defy any other red-blooded male not to be.” Both Neville and Hermione snickered, Harry caught the half smile from the headmistress a moment before she regained her composure.

“Madame Longbottom is a formidable woman,” it was Severus who spoke although the fact that they all silently agreed spoke volumes as to the accuracy of his statement, “she will be interested in the particulars of the public face of your dynamic… as will your extended families and friendship circles... _before_ they become public knowledge.” Harry fixed Severus with a curious look, _was he really saying what Harry thought he was saying? That was not what they had agreed earlier._

Severus wouldn’t meet Harry’s gaze, “and on the topic of particulars, you will require a new Potions Master, effective immediately, Headmistress.” Three shouts of surprise met the pronouncement. Severus wasn’t looking anywhere but right into Minerva’s eyes.

“This was not an issue yesterday, Severus.” She said slowly as if processing his words. He tilted his head in silent acknowledgement.

“You’re one of them?” Hermione’s declaration would have been funny if it wasn’t a perfect indication of the entire issue with the wizarding world and their attitude to Omega’s. She glanced around. “Why am I the only one surprised by this?”

“Because you assume that all third and fourth gender wizards are animals and Professor Snape is an intellectual?” Harry sniped harshly. “I caught Professor Snape‘s scent last year, what I know my Beta knows. I guess there’s some law somewhere about declaring yourself to an employer?” Severus nodded tightly at the question, and Harry transferred his gaze to Kingsley, “and I presume Professor Shacklebolt didn’t know for certain until now judging by his expression.”

“I assumed you had an Omega secreted away somewhere,” Kingsley told Severus quietly, the Potions Master nodded.

“That was the intention, you would not have heard the tale of my first arrest?” Harry exchanged a look with Neville.

“You cursed Moody’s leg off,” Kingsley said bluntly, and Severus actually laughed in his face.

“That would be quite the trick without a wand in my possession at the time.” Kingsley frowned at that.

“We don’t disarm anyone until they’re in custody, standard procedure.”

 

“Because Alastor Moody was a paragon of virtue who obeyed trivialities such as due legal process.” They all winced at Snape’s hissed comment, imaginations filling in the gaps.

“So how did you do it?” Hermione asked quietly. Severus fixed her with a look as if assessing her ability to handle the truth.

“A potions master is never without a blade.” A beat as the blood drained from Hermione's face. “There is a major artery in the thigh, and the angle was in my favour.” Hermione swallowed convulsively as she rubbed absently at her sleeve and the scarring below. She frowned for a second.

“How on earth is that possible, he’d have had to have been on top of you…” Severus’s withering glare made her trail off as she understood, that was exactly where Moody had been when Severus had stabbed him.

“The blade is goblin made, a gift from Lucius…” Severus didn’t finish the thought, “I used it for harvesting the more dangerous ingredients the Dark Lord required for several years.” Severus settled his stare on Kingsley. “It had been exposed to more than enough dark curses and potions to imbue the ability to prevent regrowth of limbs by magic.”

“Severus, your attempt to distract us from the matter at hand is rather transparent.” Minerva cut in suddenly, “nothing is shocking in a potions master owning a cursed blade. However, the sudden appearance of an Alpha is another matter.” Severus gestured vaguely.

“The how’s and why’s are irrelevant to the matter at hand,”

“Severus,” Minerva’s warning tone bounced off Severus as if she hadn’t spoken at all, “Severus, if you were attacked- if…” her face slowly drained of colour as her imagination got away with her.

“Of course not,” Severus snapped, “pull yourself together headmistress, histrionics are unbecoming … and the fact remains, as you are well aware.”

“What facts?” Harry asked guardedly, both Neville and Kingsley shot him the same look of surprise that he wasn’t following the conversation.

“Harry,” Neville said softly, “bonded omegas don’t work.” Harry frowned.

“Er… since when?” Ron worked, Bill worked… it didn’t make sense.

“Since always, Harry, in an ideal world, they say no Omega would work.” Harry blinked again. That made no sense to him, omegas were easily ten percent of the adult population, and the wizarding world was hardly thriving.

“Is this another one of those things I should know, so no one bothered to tell me?” Harry asked almost warily.

“Imagine for a second Harry,” Neville murmured patiently, “you’ve got an Omega, are you really letting them go out, unprotected, for eight to ten hours every day?” Harry couldn’t help the way his fist clenched at his beta’s words, “you can barely stand it when I have a different class to you, and you know no one is going to target me in the season.” Harry let out a long slow breath and tried to force himself to think rationally.

“Nev I’ve got PTSD and a possessive streak, both of which they tell me I’ll grow out of and most alphas haven’t fought a war.” Neville shrugged.

“Maybe the rest are just possessive,”

“So what? What do they actually expect an Omega to do all day?”

“Bear children and keep house,” Severus’s answer was clipped and his voice tight. Harry very nearly swore again.

“That’s… insane…”

“There is also the matter of the pride of the Alpha in question.” Harry frowned again.

“What pride? Keeping someone prisoner in their own home?” His voice was climbing slightly as anger bubbled below the surface.

“Har,” Neville’s voice was soothing, but it didn’t work much, “Most alphas, it’s seen as a disgrace to let an Omega work.” Harry stared agog at his beta.

“You’re… not joking! That makes no sense, why would-?” He found himself looking to Hermione for an answer, but she looked as lost and confused as he was.

“Harry, if the Omega works, it’s usually a sign the alpha can’t or won’t provide.”  Harry stared. He blinked twice.

“And what if they want to work, not everyone would want to stay home playing Mother twenty-four seven, Nev?” Neville shrugged. That was just the way it was. Harry caught the way Severus was staring at him as if he’d never seen him before. He made a split second decision that could only reasonably be explained later with an exasperated mutter of _‘Gryffindors and their precious sense of right and wrong.’_

“Secure the room.”

“What?” Neville hadn’t expected Harry to say it, so he reacted more with surprise than trained obedience they had drilled with the DA.

“I said to secure the room, Hermione sweep for bugs and charms, I need a secure place to speak.” Severus had lost all colour and was staring holes into him as Harry slipped his own wand into his hand. “Sorry, Professor,” Harry muttered as Hermione cast a wide net anti-animagus charm and the headmistress made a distressed noise when it hit her. He flicked it and cast his own _muffliato_ at the door before Hermione cast a shield spell over it and an impervious charm on the gap below it.

“Room secure, Harry, no bugs.”

“Reconfirm, room secure?”

“DA standard, Harry, confirmed.” Harry glanced at the desk where Hermione has conjured a rose in a jar. “We are sub rosa.” Harry didn’t have to ask if all three professors understood, the DA had borrowed this procedure from the Order after tweaking it slightly.

“I’m not about to ask anyone for an unbreakable vow not to reveal this conversation because I promise you, Death would be preferable to me finding whoever broke the seal and endangered my pack.” Minerva was staring at him in shock. She’d never had a chance to see this side of him with the DA.  Kingsley looked impressed. Harry ignored them both and fixed his gaze on Severus.

“Speak freely. Why didn’t you discuss this with me earlier?” Minerva was glancing between them, Kingsley looked murderous as he too recognised the order for what it was.

“There was nothing to discuss, Alpha.” Harry was surprised to find that he hadn’t had to block any nasty hexes in the tense few seconds that followed Severus’s pronouncement. “I know my place in the world.”

“Apparently you don’t!” Harry snapped, and Severus physically flinched. The headmistress was glaring at him and dared to try and step between them as Harry crossed the room, so he was facing Severus directly. Kingsley pulled her out of the way with a low warning that she had no jurisdiction in this. Harry lowered his voice. “Talk to me, Omega, do you want to work?”

“Harry,” Neville started to say but cut off abruptly as Harry let out a low snarl at him not to interfere.

“Answer the question Omega, would you work, given the free choice.” Severus wouldn’t look at him.

“There is no choice.” He muttered softly. He wouldn’t do that to the young alpha who had been so decent to him, Harry didn’t deserve that.

“There is always a choice,” Harry commented coolly. “This isn’t a hypothetical question, answer it Omega.”

“Harry! Don’t talk to him like that!” Neville finally lost his temper with Hermione.

“Would you shut up for three minutes!” Hermione blinked at him in shock. “Use the time to think about how you don’t know everything,” Harry smirked down at Severus.

“That one was worthy of you,” He commented quietly, and Severus made a low, amused sound, “I won’t stop you working, and I won’t force you either,” Harry told him gently.

“It would be prudent,” Severus murmured, “not to disrupt the running of the school with the need to find a qualified potions professor on such short notice.” Harry had enough experience with Severus as his mannerisms to know what he was hearing.

“Your contract would need renewing, with the usual clauses,” Neville muttered quietly, and Severus nodded. Harry fixed his beta with a questioning look from where he’d pressed himself against his Omega, he could still smell himself on Severus, and it was sending odd signals to certain inappropriate parts of his system.

“Provision for pregnancy leave, family pay, the usual stuff.” Harry met Severus’s expression with a searching look of his own. He had no idea what that meant, and Neville clearly did. What mattered most to Harry right now was doing right by Severus.

“Will you let him negotiate, in my stead, on your behalf?” Harry asked quietly. Severus and Neville exchanged glances. Severus nodded once.

“If you want to work, then do so.” Severus froze against him.

“Alpha has no wish for children?” Harry winced at the way Severus had worded that. He pressed a reassuring kiss just under Severus’s ear where he’d been nuzzling.

“I’m eighteen, I’m nowhere near ready to be a parent.” Severus let out a sound like he was in pain. Harry ignored it, with the season still in full swing, Severus coming down off of recent heat and their bonding the night before he didn’t need an explanation for his omega’s instinctive distress and knew the man wouldn’t appreciate being coddled for it. “So if you want to teach for a few more years I don’t see why not,” Harry added gently.

“They will crucify you,” Severus muttered quietly. “I will not be responsible for-“

“It wouldn’t be the first or last time I was made a pariah,” Harry muttered, “might as well be for something that makes my Omega happy.” Harry glanced up at Neville. “You’ll back me on this?” Neville didn’t look comfortable, but he nodded anyway. Hermione, Minerva and Kingsley were speaking in hushed tones.

“Har,” Neville said softly, “if he’s working he’ll be earning, how do you plan on managing that?” Harry had no idea what that meant. Severus and Neville exchanged uneasy looks at Harry’s telling silence.

“I’ll deal with it.” Harry had an inkling, “I don’t have classes this afternoon I’ll go drop in on Griphook see if we can’t sort this.” Harry managed to sound like he knew what he was talking about. Neville nodded.

“You will require my account details.” Severus murmured lowly, Harry glanced at Neville who nodded.

“Do you have classes this afternoon?” Harry asked quietly.

“Until my contract is negotiated, alpha, I do not have classes at all.” Harry frowned. “For insurance purposes.”

“As this something of an unexpected development,” the headmistress started to say, and Harry looked over at her, she looked somewhere between lost and seething. He took pity on her.

“We need to go to Gringotts, but then… I think that shouldn’t take too long?” Harry glanced at Severus who didn’t meet his gaze.

“I have already submitted the declaration to the ministry, they will have informed the bank to expect you alpha.” Severus murmured. He’d sent an owl almost immediately to the ministry that morning, they would have frozen his account as part of their standard procedure until the alpha decided what to do with it. That had been the moment he’d let himself admit that this process was not as galling as he’d feared and that was entirely due to the sense that he’d been treated far better than he’d ever thought to expect.

Harry glanced at his watch.

“Well, it’s ten past ten now, we could be there and back by lunchtime, are you free this afternoon headmistress?” she stared at him. “You have a contract to renegotiate.” her eyes went wide, and she glanced between Harry and Severus. if anything the words seemed to have made her angrier, Harry didn’t notice Severus half shake his head at her before she agreed.

-

“Before we go…” Harry had decided he’d change out of his uniform and meet Severus in his quarters to leave together. “What exactly am I walking into here?” Neville had given him a quick rundown of what to expect, the goblins would have frozen anything Severus held in his own name, and he’d have to organise it all.

“I had one account for salary payments and expenses, Alpha, no key.” Harry frowned in question. “Only the old families have vaults, the rest of us maintain standard accounts and make withdrawals as required in a manner similar to the muggle system.” Severus had predicted his question correctly. He placed a card on the table between them and pushed it towards Harry. Harry picked it up and read it. It was the same size as a muggle bank card and appeared to have all the same kind of information on it. “The goblins have yet to progress to a debit card system for general accounts.” He added. Harry handed him the card back, but he wouldn’t take it. “Your touch will have updated it, Alpha.” Severus pointed out. Harry looked back at it to find it now had his own name on it. His eyes went wide. Neville had warned him but seeing it was still surprising.

“Right, well, we better get to Gringotts and get all this sorted out.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gringotts

 

The goblin waved him towards the desk, and Harry approached slowly, drawing his key from his pocket as he did so. Severus stepped back to give him some privacy.

“How may we help Mister Potter today?” Harry didn’t know this goblin.

“I require an audience with Griphook, at his earliest convenience.” Neville had spent a good week last year teaching him the usual pureblood etiquette he needed to survive. The goblin fixed him with a curious look and then nodded.

“Griphook will be available in ten minutes, there is a waiting area over there.” He gestured absently.

“Thank you, may your axe always strike gold.” The goblin looked surprised that Harry had used the traditional salutation, even if it was in English rather than Gobbledegook, and his expression changed slightly

They were halfway to the waiting area when Harry voiced his question.

“Wonder what that was about?” Severus made a low sound of amusement.

“They do not expect wizards to honour their culture,” Harry frowned, “even an attempt to would be viewed positively, Alpha,” Severus reassured him when he realised that Harry expected an answer. Harry had made a point of trying to teach himself or find someone to teach him about the major magical cultures. His understanding of goblins came mostly from Bill. He’d also exchanged letters with Professor Flitwick who had been more than happy to offer his opinion; that should Harry refrain from butchering the language and that the effort of understanding their culture would be enough to keep the banking goblins onside.

They hadn't been sat long when Griphook appeared, Harry didn’t comment that the goblin normally sent a secretary out to find him as they stepped into the office. Harry made a point of indicating to Severus to follow and take the seat that had been occupied by a wizarding legal advisor the last time he’d been in this office. He smirked when he spotted the sword on the wall.

“That is an excellent copy of Gryffindor’s sword, Griphook,” Griphook smirked right back at him.

“The original is with the Goblin King where it belongs. Mister Longbottom was entirely gracious in gifting us that copy which was won by right of blood spilt, the goblin nation is grateful to him.”  

“This is the one he beheaded the snake with?” Griphook confirmed the answer with a low hum of agreement. “May I?” Griphook indicated the sword and Harry stepped towards it, it had been mounted and placed in a spot that was perfectly lit to show it off. “A copy so good it destroyed a living Horcrux,” Harry commented; he’d never quite figured out how that had been possible. It hummed as his fingers brushed over the cool metal of the hilt. Harry froze.

“It calls to you, Mister Potter,” Griphook told him, “its creator is a wizard singularly skilled in forgery, several of my colleagues believe it to be the genuine artefact and its provenance does lend credence to that.” Griphook clearly relished telling him that and shared Harry’s amusement that the goblins couldn’t spot a fake.

“Wizard?” Harry asked quizzically, and when he realised that Harry hadn’t understood what he meant, Griphook levelled his gaze on Severus. Harry watched Severus go very still where he had dipped his head, Harry cleared his throat pointedly after a moment. They hadn't had a lot of time to discuss Harry’s expectations, so for now, he had no place to complain that Severus had folded a little too easily for his taste. He realised a second later what Griphook meant by the look, and his jaw dropped.

“ _You_ made this, Severus?” Griphook let out a barklike laugh at Harry’s surprise, and Severus coloured tellingly.

“A copy was required for the headmaster’s office when you took possession of the original, Alpha.” Harry blinked as he remembered the moment he’d realised that the Patronus that had led him to the sword was Severus’s. That had taken some quick thinking to come up with an appropriate story when the headmaster’s office had reeked of a stressed out Omega and nothing else the night of the battle. For want of a better plan; he’d simply told the narrative that Severus had crafted with the memories he’d clearly prepared in advance of their meeting and tried not to choke on the lie that his thoroughly female _beta_ mother would have even registered on Severus’s radar as a romantic opportunity.  

“You are here to discuss the recent addition to the Potter accounts?” Griphook stated after a moment, and Harry nodded. “General Account formerly in the name of one Severus Snape, the balance of six thousand galleons with regular income. What would you like to have done with it?”

“Severus is to retain full control, access and banking rights on that account.” Harry wasn’t sure who looked more surprised, Severus or Griphook. “What has been the annual average income in the last ten years to it?” The Goblin glanced down at the paperwork and Harry pointedly ignored Severus’ stare.

“Average income of eighteen thousand galleons per year, after taxes and deductions.” Griphook supplied steadily. Harry considered for a moment, he could just multiply that by moving money in or granting Severus a vault, but he knew his Omega wouldn’t appreciate being kept in such a way.

“Fifteen hundred galleons a month?” The goblin nodded. “Can we match that from the income of the…” Harry considered for a moment, “Cork Manor and golf course, supplement from profits of the Swiss hotel in the winter when the manor is quieter and then from the dividends vault if needed?”

“It is your money, Mister Potter.” Harry nodded, if Griphook wasn't arguing then he’d done the maths correctly and the plan was feasible.

“Do it, with payments to rise every year at a rate of inflation on the muggle pound, plus...er, three percent? _Yeah, three should be enough_. That’s about how much wages rise, isn’t it?” Griphook raised an eyebrow at his question when he realised what Harry had done. “Then match the total income again from the muggle holdings.” Griphook stared at him, “take twelve thousand galleons from vault seven hundred and thirteen and pay into that account today.” Griphook clearly thought he’d gone mad to be paying Severus money from the vault he’d bought out and set up as a business account when Hogwarts closed it during the routine repairs and admin work last year. The goblin blinked slowly then made a short notation. “And another six from two-twelve?” Griphook made another note.  

“That brings the balance to twenty-two thousand galleons with an annual income of thirty-six thousand galleons plus interest,” Griphook told him neutrally.

“What’s that in Muggle money?” Harry liked to know the comparison because somehow he’d managed to retain his sense of what muggle money was worth in real terms; he still remembered that Uncle Vernon’s car had been forty-five thousand pounds when it was new, and Dudley’s Smelting’s tuition had been ten thousand pounds a year. In more realistic terms; a loaf of bread was about fifty pence, a pint of larger in London about two pounds, if uncle Vernon complaining was to be believed, and Aunt Petunia usually spent about a hundred pounds a week on food shopping.

“Approximately two hundred thousand pounds, the galleon has yet to recover against the price of pure gold but is climbing steadily since the collapse two years ago.”

“That should do, did you send Neville Longbottom the silver key to the Potter holdings when I wrote last week?”

“The key was forged yesterday, what withdrawal and term limit will you set?”

“No withdrawal limit, lifetime term; that’s for Neville to use if he needs it in an emergency. He’s my Beta, in the event of my death he’s to take control of the accounts unless a son or daughter has reached majority. Severus’s account is to be considered a family account so payments carry on and can’t be overruled by an heir. Please have my Will updated accordingly.” Griphook snapped his fingers a scroll of parchment appeared on the desk and unrolled it. Harry watched as he took a quill to it and handed it over to Harry to check when he was finished making the amendments; Harry took the quill and signed without prompting. “I’d also like a second silver key forged for Severus to hold, same terms.” The goblin seemed to have accepted that Harry wasn’t going to stick to the usual protocols where his Omega was concerned and made another note on his ever-growing list of things to do.

“The third key will be ready in three working days.” Harry glanced over at Severus who looked slightly ill.

“Any way of speeding that up?” Griphook met Harry’s stare, and half smiled. There was always a way with the goblins, and it was usually gold.

“For a nominal fee, the forger could create a second silver key for the Potter holdings today.”

“Do it, take the fee from my personal account.” Severus made a low noise, but Harry knew better than to let himself be distracted by his Omega’s distress.

“The fee is five thousand galleons. Please verbally confirm that you wish to proceed with this transaction?” Harry glared right back at the goblin knowing full well that Griphook had expected him to baulk at the payment for something so small as a key why he’d asked for confirmation.

“Get it here before I’m ready to leave and you can double that.” Griphook raised a sceptical eyebrow at the challenge. “and yes, Confirm, five thousand galleons paid to Gringotts bank for one silver holdings key.” Griphook nodded and took yet another note on separate parchment and pressed the button on his desk once he’d filled in the order form for the key. The secretary came in, took it and left. Harry made a point of not watching him leave. Griphook looked up expectantly when he’d finished writing. “Those account card things Severus has, can they be linked to vaults?”

“Vaults and accounts with more than five hundred thousand galleons or an income of fifty thousand galleons per year are eligible for debit cards, vaults and accounts with an annual income of ten thousand or holding one hundred thousand for cash cards. Debit cards have a cumulative daily spend limit at third-party establishments of fifteen thousand galleons without prior written or Patronus authorisation.” It took Harry a moment to understand that Griphook had supplied him with the long version of simply saying ‘yes’.

“What's the difference between a debit and a cash card?

“A cash card is precisely that; all Gringotts branches and muggle machines will allow withdrawals on cash cards to the balance of the account, the branch or machine limit. The debit card may be presented at any wizarding or muggle merchant for the purchase of good to the limit of the card or the balance of the account and may also be used for cash withdrawals, whichever is lower.”

“So… with a debit card, there would be no reason to carry more than pocket cash or the key on a day-to-day basis?” Griphook nodded at Harry's question. “How safe is it?

“The card is tied to the magical signature of the owner; cards may be issued to any named signatory on an account, with the usual anti-loss and anti-theft charms. They are set to decline any transactions made beyond fifty feet of the cardholder at a magical establishment and require a written signature to be used with muggle merchants.”

“That sounds brilliant, is my personal vault eligible for one?” Griphook nodded and tapped the button on his desk again. He dropped the pile of paperwork that had accrued so far, including Harry’s will, into the slot that appeared on his desk. Harry smirked at the pointed visual indication that Griphook intended to have the silver key here more quickly than the usual channels allowed.

“You may collect your card from the front desk before leaving, Mister Potter.” Harry glanced over at Severus.

“Can Severus’ card be upgraded to the full debit card?”

“The account will not have an annual income or holdings to meet the requirements.” Harry frowned.

“What’s it short?”

“Fourteen thousand galleons per annum at the current rate of income from the Potter holdings.” Harry knew Severus’ wages would make it eligible but as he wasn’t sure how long that was going to last he made a decision.  

“Pay that to it from the patents vault and upgrade the card, I don’t like the idea of my Omega carrying large amounts of cash when there’s a safer option.” Griphook nodded. “Did you set up the payments for Neville from the dividends account?” Griphook checked the paperwork for the answer.

“Fifteen thousand galleons per annum to Mister Longbottom’s personal vault.”

“Good. Any other business while I’m here?” Griphook glanced at Severus uneasily. Harry waited, but he didn’t speak. “What?”

“Discussions regarding your private holdings must remain confidential, Mister Potter.”

“I trust Severus with my life,” Harry stated firmly.

“And with your gold, Mister Potter?” Only a goblin would ask that question, and Harry almost laughed

“Absolutely, I don’t order silver keys for just anyone.” Severus was staring holes into him, but Harry couldn’t look over at him now, he’d worked hard to gain Griphook’s respect, and he couldn’t risk losing it by being seen to coddle his Omega or be distracted from his finances so easily.

“Your investment continue to pay dividends at the usual annual rate, the patents account has seen an upsurge in funds from the ministry subsidy of Wolfsbane potion which has risen under the new distribution scheme.” Harry blinked, he’d forgotten that his grandfather had invented that one.

“All profits from the Wolfsbane potion are to be donated to Hedwig's Fund, my grandfather didn’t invent that potion to make money off of it, and we have a lot of orphans to feed.”

“That is thousands of galleons per month, Mister Potter.”

“Did I stutter?” Harry asked sharply, and Griphook raised a surprised eyebrow before nodding and making yet another note. Harry kept half expecting the goblin to run out of parchment.

“Three new house elves have been born in Potter holdings in the last three months,” Griphook said. Harry nodded.

“Increase the household allowances for their upkeep accordingly, have the contracts rewritten to keep the family together bonding the child to the same holding as the parents, and if any of the parents are free then double their wages,” Harry instructed. Griphook had already started writing before he’d finished. “How are negotiations with Nimbus?”

“Negotiations proceed, the merger with Cleansweep remains a profitable endeavour, and they are suitably eager to complete.”

“Have they budged on keeping and retraining the Cleansweep staff at their current rates of pay yet?”

“They are willing to accept that term as part of the merger agreement."

“At the quoted price?” Griphook nodded. “Arrange a meeting to complete on it, once I’ve signed I’ll want to have the paperwork stored with the family contracts as soon as possible.” Yet another note, Harry wasn’t sure why Griphook insisted on keeping up the pretence that he would forget to do anything if he didn’t write it down. “Anything else?”

“Your estate manager has submitted a formal request for thirty-five thousand galleons.”

“ _What for_?” That wasn’t a lot of money to Harry in the grand scheme of things, but the lack of communication about it meant it was a surprise.

“The upkeep of certain holdings…” Griphook flicked through some more papers on his desk until he found the request. “Here, Mister Potter.” Harry took the letter and read it.

“Why does he need five thousand galleons for Godric’s Hollow? _It’s a ruin_!”

“The anti-muggle warding requires renewing annually by a certified archi-wizard as do the charms that uphold what is left of the structural integrity of the house itself.”

“Is that a fair price for that work?”

“A Gringotts curse-breaker could complete the same work to the same standard for a fraction of that price.”

“Are you offering?” Harry asked, and Griphook smirked. “Bring that one to yourselves then and decline the request for it… would you ask Bill if he’d do it, please? I’d like to have a familiar magical signature there when I visit if possible.” Griphook actually smiled and agreed. He found odd touches of human sentimentality rather sweet in a patronising sort of way that Harry had learned to accept didn’t hold any malice. “What about these others?” Griphook waited for Harry to finish reading. “Grimmauld Place is unplottable…” Harry commented absently, “Moody’s wards can’t cost that much to rip down, they’re not exactly technical -just bog standard auror stuff.” Griphook didn’t comment. “Have any of the wards been breached since I was there the year before last?” Harry hadn’t been back there since the night Yaxley had seen it.

“The house has not been entered.”

“Any indication that the fidelius charm has extended since then…” Griphook looked confused. “Yaxley saw the place, but he’s dead, did he tell anyone about it?” The charm automatically listed the secret keeper on the deeds for the house. Griphook summoned them up and handed the relevant page to Harry. He scanned it and nodded, he wasn’t about to question his good fortune that Yaxley hadn’t shared the information. “Decline that too, I’ll remove what I don’t want of Moody’s wards myself, and the fidelus can stay where it is,”

“You are sentimental, Mister Potter.” Griphook clearly didn’t approve.

“It’s my house I’m allowed to be; Professor Flitwick cast that fidelius charm and Dumbledore died holding it. It stays. Same for the Blackpool house, my dad made Sirius was the secret keeper on that so it will have held.”

Something occurred to Harry as he read the rest and he didn’t like it. “The house in Cokeworth,” Harry looked up at the goblin, “does he mean my mother’s parents house that you bought out when Petunia sold?” Griphook had been managing the account for years and had taken the decision to buy the family home for the newly orphaned account owner on the understanding that humans were sentimental about such things, “It’s a two-bed terraced house, is it even worth that much?” He asked almost to himself thoughtfully as he read the request for ten thousand galleons to refurbish it, frowning as he tried to calculate the costs.

“Griphook…” He asked slowly, “In your professional opinion,” The goblin sat up in his seat, “Is my estate manager trying to cheat me?”

The goblin blinked and then blinked again. He checked some paperwork without speaking. Harry didn’t need an answer when he saw the goblin’s expression.

“Would you care to press charges, Mister Potter?”

“How much?” The silence stretched for several lifetime long moments.

“A little under half a million galleons.” In the Potter holdings that was nothing but it was the principle of the thing, Harry took pride in paying all of his staff a fair wage and then some, so they didn’t have to steal from him.

“No charges, fire him, quietly. Any funds recovered are to be paid to the goblins responsible for doing so according to their contribution.” Which guaranteed that every knut would be recovered, Harry would appear blameless in the scheme of banking processes when the man was hounded for it, and he would grow relations with the goblins too. It was a small price to pay for the goodwill of several bank goblins. “Does Gringotts recommend an honest replacement?”

“Gringotts bank does not deal in estate management.”

“OK, send it to _Clarkson and Tudor_ for now, they already have all the Black legal and estates, they should be able to handle the Potter portfolio. It would make business easier if everything were in the same company, right?”

“Very good, Mister Potter.” Severus cleared his throat and Harry jumped, he hadn’t expected his Omega to speak and had been startled at the sound.  

“Forgive my interruption, Alpha,” He started to say slowly and glanced up at Harry as if asking permission to continue. Harry gestured for him to speak. “ _Clarkson and Tudor_ have a somewhat restrictive staffing policy.”

“Oh?”

“It would conflict with several of your charitable contributions, and I suspect your personal sensibilities too, Alpha.”

“How so, Omega?”

“They do not employ muggleborns, and rarely employ even the most exceptional half-blood candidate, Alpha.”

“What?” Harry practically growled out the word. “Why?” Severus fixed him with a look that asked if he really needed it spelling out.

“Officially,” Griphook said, “Mister Potter, they rarely encounter a muggleborn or half-blood candidate with the required understanding of magical law.”

“And unofficially?” They must have both sensed the danger in his tone.

“They are the preferred company for the legal matters of twenty-three of your so-called Sacred Twenty Eight families.” Griphook supplied. “fourteen of which have recently been excommunicated citing conduct unbecoming of magical brethren.” Harry had no idea what that meant.

“ _In English_ , Griphook?” Harry asked wryly. He was surprised when Severus and the goblin actually exchanged a glance. Griphook shrugged and gestured to Severus after a moment.

“They aligned themselves with the Dark Lord, and refused to plead guilty or offer a defence at the subsequent trials, Alpha.” Harry could feel the rage building in his chest.

“I want all my personal, family and business holdings and interests moved from their care, _today_.” Griphook made a choked sound as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. That kind of move would normally take months to action. “I don’t care what it costs. Severus, do you know any other companies?” Severus seemed to consider for a moment.

“ _Leicester, Aykroyd & Foner_ handle the legal matters for the Malfoy and Longbottom families, and were the executors of Headmaster Dumbledore's will, Alpha.”  

“What's _their_ staffing policy?” Griphook cleared his throat.

“I have a cousin in their employ, Mister Potter, it would certainly make managing your finances simpler to use a legal representative with goblin connections.”

“They employ goblins…?” Griphook nodded. “Severus?” Harry asked after a second more of thought.

“Their legal partner is a muggleborn, Alpha, A Miss Foner, who as I recall was an _atrocious_ potions student.” Harry snorted and then laughed aloud.

“I like her already…” Severus glared amusedly at him when Griphook looked away, and Harry winked conspiratorially at him. “Let’s do it, where do I sign to approve the transfer, Griphook?” Griphook pressed the button on his desk again, and they waited in a tense silence. After several minutes the door opened, and the secretary from earlier stepped through. He handed Griphook two small envelopes and a single sheet of fresh parchment.

“Miss Foner is on this roll to negotiate, Griphook.” Harry frowned and watched as Griphook laid out and unrolled the parchment and it filled with lines of text on its own.

“What is that?”

“Linked parchments, Mister Potter, standard long distance negotiating tools. Miss Aykroyd has the other parchment, this allows us to alter the contract in real time and complete remotely.” Harry nodded; he trusted Griphook as much as it was possible for a wizard to trust any goblin and if Griphook trusted this method he was happy to use it. “This is a standard contract, at ten percent less cost than the previous supplier of these services to the Potter holdings due to the size and nature of the portfolio.”

“The nature of it?” Harry asked carefully, he’d learned enough of magical law to know to question any terminology he didn’t fully understand.  

‘Your estates require very little management and the bulk of your contact with the supplier will be business legal services and personal services.”

“And this is all holdings they’re taking on, the old Black stuff as well, everything you don’t manage?” Griphook nodded. Harry held his hand out for the quill and signed. He watched as his signature glowed for a second and Foner’s signature appeared on the parchment. Underneath a short note appeared.

_LA &F thank you for your custom and consideration, Mister Potter. Please expect our owl to arrange a personal visitation at your convenience, to discuss your holdings, once they have been reviewed by your personal management team._

“Which of your vaults would you have their fees paid from, Mister Potter?”

“Does Seven-Thirteen have the income to cover it and maintain other payments? Let's keep all the primary business stuff together and do it from there then.” Griphook took yet another note. “Is that everything now?” Harry was starting to daydream about lunch. Griphook double checked his notes and then started.

“One last thing, Mister Potter.” He picked up the envelopes the secretary had set down earlier and handed them to Harry with a grin. Harry frowned and opened the first curiously. He grinned right back as he held the key it up to the light to read Neville’s initials. He opened the second envelope, saw that it too contained a key, and nodded without taking it out.

“Five thousand galleons more from my personal vault to be paid to Gringotts. _Challenge well met_ , Griphook, my compliments to the forger.”

“Your gold will be thanks enough for him.” Harry laughed at the eagerness with which Griphook made _that_ notation. He moved to stand. “your signature here, Mister Potter.” He handed over the list he’d made, and Harry realised that it was a transactions receipt. He checked everything and signed with the offered quill after adding a notation of his own to the money out column.

_100kG and items No.s/42 and 74 from vault 687 to Griphook Earthforged of Gringott’s bank._

and in the references box next to it he wrote in full;

_With respect and my personal thanks for these last eighteen years loyal service to the Potter Portfolio; PSR. GV. -Harry._

It had been professor Flitwick who had taught him the shorthand for the salutation he hadn’t realised he needed when he’d approached the man for advice on how to thank Griphook without offending him. It had been playing on his mind that the goblin had gone well above and beyond the call of duty while Harry had been too young to manage the accounts and he’d wanted to do something meaningful. The goblin stared at him, glassy-eyed, for several seconds when he saw it; not least because Harry had signed the notation with only the diminutive of his first name.   

-

Harry hadn't realised how mentally exhausted he was until he collapsed on Severus’s sofa and his Omega handed him a cold goblet of pumpkin juice.

“Join me while we wait for Neville?” Harry asked softly after he’d taken a mouthful of juice and set the goblet down. Severus settled himself in at Harry’s side without much fanfare. “Thank you for that.” He murmured quietly, Severus had been the very picture of self-control in the meeting and had probably done a lot for his reputation with the goblins that he had only interrupted once and then it had been in Harry’s interest. Harry handed him the envelope from earlier with his key in it.

“I want you to keep this with you, use it if you need it, Omega,” he’d seen the look of horror Severus had sported when he’d heard Harry buying it, “promise me.” Severus swallowed almost audibly and nodded as he took it. He tipped it from the envelope slowly onto his palm as if worried it might burn him when it landed there. Harry blinked when he saw it and realised that the initials SP that had been carved into it were not incorrect. It sent a flare of protective possessiveness through him to know that Severus had his name now and he felt the wave of heat from his lover as he came to the same conclusion.

 Harry nuzzled a kiss behind Severus’s ear, and his Omega purred softly at the gesture of dominance as the door opened and Neville stepped through. Harry looked up in time to see his Beta’s smile at the sight of them. Neville sat himself down on Severus’s other side after greeting Harry with a kiss. He offered Severus a smile and tapped his shoulder as he sat. Harry wouldn’t stand even his Beta being more familiar than that with his Omega this early in their relationship, and all three were well aware of that fact.

“Did you get everything sorted at the bank?” Neville asked after a moment, and Harry handed him the transactions receipt he’d fished from his pocket absently, he was far too occupied with scenting Severus to actually discuss it. “Wow, Harry!” The Alpha looked up with a half-amused half-petulant whine at the interruption.

“What?”

“You switched to Ella and Eff just like that?” Harry shrugged at the question.

“I refuse to support pureblood supremacists.” He answered shortly, and Neville nodded. “I didn't know before, although I should have known the Blacks would.” Harry pulled away from Severus for a moment and dipped back into his pocket. “Which reminds me, here,” He handed Neville his silver key in the envelope, “you’re my next of kin, you’ve both got full access. Anything happens to me-” Neville sighed audibly, Harry was a little obsessed with keeping his affairs in order for someone so young, “look after each other and any children we have?”

“Nothing’s going to happen to you, Harry,” Neville said patiently. Harry didn’t break his stare as Severus pressed into him, body reacting to the mention of children before he could stop it.

“Just humour me then,” Harry said softly, “promise me our children will have everything we didn’t.” Neville coughed slightly to clear the sudden lump in his throat as the magnitude of Harry’s words hit him. Severus wasn’t reacting well to the idea that Harry might not be there to raise his brood and had let out a low whimper into Harry’s neck. His hormones were clearly temporarily in control. Harry leaned down and kissed his Omega soundly, and Severus’s whimpers turned to soft keening noises. ”don’t worry about me,” Harry murmured quietly, “I’m a bit paranoid- makes me a bit of a pessimist, listen to Neville, he’s the realist.” Almost as if he’d taken it as an order Severus turned to face the Beta to find him smiling.

“Yeah Harry’s a pessimist, me, I know better, I know he’s going to live to a ripe old age and father as many children as you’ll let him have- just out of pure stubbornness against anyone and everyone who ever said he couldn’t.” Harry laughed, and Severus went limp with relief against him, he even managed a smile and a low quip at the irony that there had been a time when he’d been one of them. Neville was still reading the receipt.

“You got the notation right, PSR, payment for services rendered… and is that the prosperity of gold and line salutation?” Neville asked as he stared at Harry’s note.

“Professor Flitwick signed a letter like that once, so I asked him, and he said it was appropriate to use given that the idea is to let Griphook know that he did more for me than my blood family in those years.” Neville nodded absently and concurred quietly, he didn’t comment on their professor addressing Harry with it having assumed that his Alpha would have understood its significance.

What are items forty-two and seventy-four from your personal vault?” He asked after a moment. Harry smiled.

“Griphook has a nine-year-old son, his mother is a witch.” Neville stared at him.

“Harry, what did you do?”

“His name is Lawrence Earthforged. I thought he’d appreciate getting a head start on his Hogwarts reading.’ Neville gaped at him.

“Item 42; that’s my mum’s old school trunk, they have the same initials and it just so happens to have seven years worth of brand new textbooks and a cauldron I got for a song and stored in it for safekeeping last time I was at Diagon.” Severus made a low choking sound as he realised exactly what Harry had done.

“I’m almost afraid to ask…? Neville said hesitantly.

“Oh, number seventy-two? That’s all the old spare Potter wands that family have left behind over the years. It’s not like the ministry would let him buy his own, being part-goblin so I’m kind of hoping he’ll find a good fit in that little lot.”

“HARRY!” Neville’s shout almost made Harry laugh. “You gave a goblin dozens of working wands?” Harry shrugged, and Neville spluttered.

“When I checked there was four dozen in there, but I had a bunch I’d bought from Ollivander from his surplus stock and was storing there too after I studied them. No way was I turning them down at three galleons apiece.” Harry paused. “Which reminds me, I applied to be his apprentice, and he wrote to offer me a five-year agreement yesterday.” Neville stared at him.

“Wow, that’s, Harry that’s brilliant! Why didn’t you tell me?” Harry shrugged bashfully. He’d not had a lot of time to consider it with everything that had happened and hadn’t let it sink in yet.

“It was Moody’s funeral…” Neville picked up a cushion off the sofa and flung it squarely in Harry’s face, Severus ducked out of the way just in time to avoid it hitting him. “What do you think?” Harry couldn’t keep the nervousness from his voice. It was his duty to provide for the pair of them but being a wandsmith wasn’t exactly glamorous. He glanced down at Severus who had pressed a hesitant kiss into his neck.

“I think,” Severus murmured quietly, “that a life handing children the means to access and control their magic would suit you, Alpha.” Harry realised at that moment exactly why he’d fallen for Severus all over again; he had a way of seeing the real truth of a situation and no fear in voicing it.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me… What am I going to do with you?” Neville’s tone was equal parts exasperated and obviously proud of his Alpha.

“Celebrate tonight?” Harry asked cheekily, and Neville stuck his tongue out. Harry leaned forward and kissed him as Severus shifted out of the way, “new rule,” Harry muttered against his Beta’s lips, “no sticking your tongue out unless you intend to use it.” Neville laughed, and Harry caught Severus and pulled him close as he and Neville broke apart for air.

“Don’t disappear, Omega, it’s you we’re celebrating, so you need to be here.” Severus went bright red at his Alpha’s words and Harry laughed, he didn’t even mind the way Neville’s arms travelled around his Omega’s waist as he nipped at the Potions Master’s neck and whispered soft promises that he had every intention of keeping… _later_.


	14. Chapter 14

“Do I actually have to be here, or is this one of those stupid ministry formalities that no one listens to anyway?” Harry asked as they waited for the headmistress to appear. The portraits were all sleeping, and Harry wanted to be too. Even the hasty three cups of coffee after the rather intense necking session hadn’t cleared the exhausted fuzz in his mind.

“Harry!” Neville chastised gently.

“Come on, you know as well as I do that what I know about employment law could fit on a pixie wing,” Harry answered the implicit criticism with a sigh.

“You are still an astute businessman, Alpha.” Severus murmured, and Harry looked at him, surprised.

“Excuse me? Since when?” Harry didn’t bother hiding his incredulity.

“The goblin speaks to you as an equal on business matters, and you remain abreast of your holdings, most young men wouldn’t bother…” when they both stared at him in shock, “Lucius most certainly didn’t at your age.”

“Was Lucius's father still alive?” Harry asked pointedly, and Severus quirked his head in recognition of a fair point well made.

“And you think that's all you’re here for?” Harry blinked owlishly at the question from Neville as the door opened and the headmistress entered.

“Gentlemen.” She greeted them almost cordially. Severus shifted when Minerva indicated the usual two chairs in front of her desk. Harry frowned before pointedly pushing Severus into the nearest one and nodding Neville to the second.

“Headmistress, you’ll have to excuse me I just spent two hours verbally sparring a goblin, I’m feeling slightly brain dead.” Minerva blinked at him and that fact that he hadn’t seated himself. “I’m going to go over there and pretend I’m listening, call me when you’ve come to an agreement everyone can live with to sign it.” Neville bit back a laugh at Harry’s words and Minerva’s scandalised expression.

“Don’t worry Harry, it’s Thursday... we know,” Neville muttered, and Harry frowned at his Beta.

“Is it? I hadn’t noticed-“ and then he took on a look of slow dawning comprehension, “that’s why I nearly tore poor Kingsley’s head off. The poor bloke, I’ll go find him and apologise after this.”

“No need Harry, I can tell when a young Alpha is getting low on his suppressor,” Harry looked up tiredly as Kingsley stepped into the room and winked at him. Harry flushed with shame as the morning flashed through his memory, “Besides,” Kingsley added, “your delivery could use some work, but you were not wrong.” Harry blinked and nodded as he processed Kingsley’s words.

“Professor Shacklebolt has agreed to attend as my advisor, as my experience with these kinds of situations is… limited.” Severus made a low huffing sound, and Minerva met it with an amused look. They both knew Minerva had so little experience of it because traditionally Gryffindor house didn’t have Omega students.

“Something you find funny, Severus?” She asked, and Severus stared right back at her, Kingsley touched her shoulder and shook his head- Minerva really was clueless if she was addressing an Omega directly with both his Alpha and Beta present. Harry glanced at them and nodded to himself.

“Let’s take it as read that we should all be speaking freely and without too many formalities, shall we?” He asked pointedly, and Severus’s eyes shot up to meet his gaze in a heartbeat. “We’re all free-thinking adults here,” Harry added, and Severus’s expression flickered, but he didn’t comment. “Nev? Where do we start?” Neville glanced at Severus and then at Kingsley pointedly, Harry half shook his head in warning. Yes; he knew Kingsley was an Alpha, that was why he had just decided that he was perfectly happy standing with one hand perched on Severus’s shoulder instead of wandering off to stare wistfully out of the window. Severus pulled a scroll of parchment from his inside pocket and handed it to Minerva; she took it with a curious look.

“My original contract, I would appreciate it if you refrained from annotating it and returned it once we are finished here.” Kingsley shot Harry a sharp look at Severus’s decision to speak and Harry tilted up his bottom lip in a facial shrug. “It has sentimental value.” He added pointedly and indicated the signatures. Harry stared at Kingsley for Several seconds as Minerva perused the scroll, part of his stare was daring him to comment on it even as Harry was quietly hoping that Kingsley respected Severus enough not to. Eventually, Kingsley nodded.

“There is no mention at all in here, not even seasonal rest days.” Minerva seemed surprised. Kingsley leaned over her shoulder and scanned the document.

“The headmaster had risked enough when he placed his reputation against the idea that a bare forearm was a prerequisite for a Professor at Hogwarts, further official adjustments would have been unthinkable,” Severus commented pointedly.

“And it never occurred to either of you to renegotiate when matters… settled?” Severus snorted amusedly at the naivety of her question. Minerva wisely chose not to comment further on that. “The standard clauses are salvageable at least.” Minerva reached for a separate piece of parchment and started jotting down notes. Harry sighed.

“Salary, holiday allowance, sick allowance, room and board all remain?” She asked.

“Salary will be redirected.” Kingsley murmured lowly.

“No, it won’t.” Harry cut in. “It will be paid as usual,” Harry stated slowly. Kingsley raised an eyebrow at him.

“In full?” Harry nodded and squeezed Severus’s shoulder lightly. His Omega produced the gold coloured card from his shirt pocket, and Kingsley stared at it, apparently recognising it for what it was. Severus half turned his head questioningly to Harry who squeezed his shoulder again in response.

“Although you will need to update name and account details accordingly.” Kingsley took the card, taking care not to touch Severus’s fingers as he did and checked the details while Minerva was still scribbling something about the room and board allowances.

“Experienced teachers earn enough for this?” He asked softly. Severus glanced shortly back at his Alpha and Kingsley blinked his eyes wide with surprise.

“No, but our family portfolio is extensive enough to allow all three of us to claim suitable stipends,” Harry commented blandly. “If any of us work, rest assured, it’s through choice alone.” He added, and Severus’s hand laid over his own as if he were reaching for Harry’s touch. Harry squeezed Severus’s hand lightly to reassure him.

For ten minutes or more Neville took over, and Harry did his best to try and look like he was following the discussion. The atmosphere seemed to have settled somewhat, and it was a pleasant surprise to see that Severus and Neville worked well together.

“And a three month notice period?”

“Do not push your luck, headmistress.” The atmosphere turned suddenly, and the hairs on the back of Harry’s neck stood up as if sensing danger. Minerva’s expression was hard when she looked up.

“It is perfectly acceptable to expect three months notice to find a replacement professor at a private institution of the calibre Hogwarts expects.” Her answer was almost prim.

“Headmistress,” Severus’s hand found where Harry was holding his shoulder, and he weaved their fingers together as if seeking support. Harry squeezed gently, and Severus took a deep breath. “I do not believe that you fully appreciate _exactly_ how lucky we both are that you are not currently drafting an emergency advertisement for a new Potions Master… to start work immediately.”  Harry shot a look at Neville who was nodding. He frowned, _what had he missed?_

“I am afraid I am not sure I understand the issue, Professor Snape.” Severus grabbed at Harry’s hand almost automatically as if he expected Harry to react violently. Harry wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be responding to. Kingsley leaned forward and muttered something in Minerva’s ear as he indicated the name on the debit card Severus had handed him. She scowled and waved him away.

“There are only two reasons I would terminate this contract, Headmistress, and neither allow for a three month notice period.”

“I see no reason-“ Neville cleared his throat and fixed her with a faux-apologetic look.

“Are you seriously suggesting that Hogwarts insurance would cover a Potions Master to teach while almost halfway through a pregnancy?” Neville’s voice was almost sickly sweet for a second and Harry might have laughed if the words hadn’t raised his hackles and sent his protective instincts into overdrive.

“Over my _cold dead body_.” Harry snarled as he realised what the issue was, his blood had run cold at the thought of Severus working while with a child. Severus gestured at Harry silently and dipped his head in submission to his Alpha’s will.

“It is perfectly safe, for Potions Masters to work for Several months while bearing children.”

“ _Female_ Researchers maybe, but with students who are largely incapable of not blowing themselves up?” Severus commented softly, without looking up.

“Easy, Alpha.” Neville’s low warning drew Harry’s attention; he hadn’t realised he’d been allowing his rage to rumble in the back of his throat.

“Omega pregnancies become obvious at,” Kingsley started to say, “six or seven weeks?” He fixed Severus with a questioning look as he asked but the Omega didn’t look up in time to notice and respond. “I assure you, from that moment onward you would rather not have a Potions Master at all.”

“And why not?” Minerva demanded.

“Because you don’t want to deal with me if something goes wrong.” Harry snapped.

“ _Don't I, Mister Potter_?” Her question wasn’t a question, and they knew it. She was challenging him, and Harry didn’t like it.

“The only reason we are here is that this is what Severus wants,” Harry told her sharply. “However his safety is more important to me than _anything else_. An accident while pregnant could kill them both.” Minerva lost several shades of colour from her face at his blunt assessment of the facts. “And I would hold _you_ personally responsible as my Omega’s employer, Headmistress.” They were all staring at him; he let them sit in stunned silence for a few seconds longer than strictly necessary. “One month, with the option to terminate early if my Omega’s health declines for any reason.” Minerva opened her mouth. “I also retain my birthright to terminate this contract at any time without notice.”

“Mister Potter you cannot-“ Kingsley touched her shoulder as Harry interrupted again.

“You will find,” Harry hissed, “that I _can_.” The Headmistress was staring at him as if she’d never seen him before, Severus spoke softly but firmly.

“Minerva, I would sincerely appreciate it- if you intend these negotiations to be completed- that you accept my Alpha’s not unreasonable terms.” Silence reigned for several long moments.

“Professor Shacklebolt, you are supposed to be here in an advisory capacity to the headmistress, might I be so bold as to suggest you fulfil it by advising her _appropriately_?” Harry sniped tightly. “Perhaps explain how you might approach a similar situation to the one I find myself in?”

“Mister Potter,” Harry absently noted the switch to his surname in the more formal setting, “I would not be in your position,” Kingsley told him slowly, “The day I allowed any Omega I had claimed to work would be the day _hell itself froze over_.” Harry’s smile became very fixed at Kingsley's declaration. “Regardless of their skill or wishes on the matter.” Minerva looked ready to birth kittens as rage washed over her expression and Neville moved as if expecting Harry to physically attack the other Alpha over the insult. Kingsley seemed to realise what he had said because he added quickly, “...but then, I am neither brave nor foolish enough to try Severus Snape, even if I had been powerful enough to recognise him for what he is until he intended me to.” Harry let himself be placated by it even if he now had every intention of proving his worth here.

Severus physically flinched under Kingsley’s stare and Harry leaned down carefully, he made a point of tucking Severus’s hair behind his ear carefully and allowing his breath to ghost softly over the bare flesh of his Omega’s exposed neck. He draped his arms protectively around his Omega and clasped his hands over Severus’s chest.

“I am your Alpha,” Harry murmured firmly, “and you are your own Master, Omega-mine.” Severus seemed to react instinctively with a nod, and the low murmured ‘yes Alpha,’ to Harry’s words as the muscles in his shoulder relaxed almost against his will.

“There are far too many Slytherin students, whose lives and the likelihood of reaching majority, _as mine did_ , depend on having a Severus in-situ…” Harry squeezed Severus’s shoulder in warning as he tugged on his Omega’s sleeve. “Who understands what it is to have their entire life dictated to them,” He brushed an absent thumb over the fading scars the Dark Mark had left behind, and Severus made a low sound like it physically hurt him. Harry kissed his neck lightly in silent apology, “and unlike you, _Professor Shacklebolt_ , my pride is not dependant on keeping my Omega in chains.” Severus pressed himself back against Harry, his scent had turned, and he’d dropped whatever control he’d been using to keep himself masked, “I take great pleasure in seeing my Omega make his own decisions.”

Neville made a low sound like something amused him, in the silence that had hung between them it echoed and cut through the atmosphere like a sharp blade through butter.

“Until he refuses to eat, you mean?” Harry snorted amusedly, and even Severus laughed slightly. Harry was quite surprised the Omega was still following the conversation, by the time Denis’s scent was this powerful he was usually a nervous wreck.

“Well, that’s for his own good,” if Severus noticed Harry's eyes twinkling with mirth he didn't say a word, “and mine, honestly, _far too skinny for my taste_! you’d think you had not lived with an army of house elves willing to cook you anything anytime you want for twenty years.” Severus went still as if Harry had frightened him and it took Harry a moment to realise what he’d said and how an insecure Omega might take it. Neville beat him to saving the situation.

“You say that like it won’t be me trying to get three square meals into the pair of you,” Neville teased gently, and Harry smirked, “until that works, Har, you have no right to judge anyone else’s habits.” Harry didn’t care that the headmistress and Kingsley were staring at them like they were mad, Severus needed this moment of normality after the vitriol Kingsley had just spewed, and Harry needed a moment to reign in his temper before he punched the other Alpha for upsetting his Omega so spectacularly that he’d lost control.

"Not broccoli," Harry made a disgusted face that seemed more suited to that of a three-year-old than an adult. Both Alpha and Beta noticed the subdued shudder that rippled through their Omega's frame.

"Certainly not. It is nubby and odd, and the taste leaves much to be desired... please no, Beta?"

“ _Nubby_?” Harry repeated, amused, “is that a technical term, _Potions Master Potter_?” Severus bit back a smirk at his Alpha’s pointed use of his name after the Headmistress had butchered it earlier, and the implied joke. It seemed to help him centre himself and realign himself enough to reclaim control of the way his scent was permeating the office.

“Of course, nubby vegetables are entirely inappropriate for human consumption, as you would have known had you paid attention your third-year potions class, Alpha.” He was still pressing himself into Harry, but his lean had gone from hard and desperate to almost languid as if he would be perfectly content to sleep right there and his scent had changed to match too. Harry half smiled at the joke and stroked the back of Severus’s hand soothingly where he’d pulled the sleeve back down. Severus caught onto his finger and ran a calloused thumb over it slowly.

"Wait... that was covered the third year? You mean the year I had a supposed _mass murderer_ after me? That year? Well... that's a relief." Harry’s voice had softened, and his amusement was much more evident now as his rage settled and simmered down into nothing.

"Or second-year herbology," Neville added slyly.

“Nev? Giant _ruddy_ snake in the pipes." Harry commented pointedly. “Let's be honest, at this point you’re lucky I’m finishing Hogwarts semi-literate and breathing.”

"Ah yes... Not to mention months of illicit brewing and stealing _my_ potions supplies, it is a wonder you had time even for sleep...." Severus purred, voice dark and eyes glinting with amusement. Harry swallowed on a dry throat and bit his lip, willing himself not to jump his Omega... because **that** voice? That was a _weapon_. And judging by Severus's expression, he knew exactly what he was doing and how to wield it to best effect

"Severus? While I will gladly watch you reduce Harry to jelly later, can we please return to the topic at hand? Headmistress, you were saying something about specific clauses that were lacking?" Neville asked, a gentle smile taking the sting out of his rebuke to the Omega and winking at his Alpha suggestively. He looked up in time to catch the stunned expression on the Headmistresses face morph into an almost motherly smile. Severus let out a low groan when he saw it and pressed himself into his Alpha’s neck in a move designed to protect himself from Minerva and her rarely seen, but potent, maternal instinct.

“Do have care, headmistress, it is rather disconcerting to be eyed as if I am one of your first-year lions to be mothered.” He commented finally, lip quirking in a friendly smile that diffused the last of her tension and settled the last of her nerves about this. In all the years she’d known him she had never seen Severus so at ease with anyone, or so childlike in his amusement, and that more than anything quelled any further argument against the dynamic Severus has allowed himself to be taken into it for as long as it kept that youthful smile on his face.

“Only because you’ve never noticed before.” She shot back at him, equally amused, and to Harry’s utter relief she agreed to almost every other single thing he requested be included in the contract that was designed around Severus’s wellbeing and his need to keep his Omega safe, healthy and happy.

"Is there anything else, Hogwarts or I can do to smooth this transition for you?" Minerva asked semi-formally as Harry countersigned the new contract with a flourish.

"We'll both be coming and going fairly regularly from Severus's quarters," Harry indicated himself and his Beta, Minerva nodded before he had a chance to finish.

"As the only professor likely to be assigning detention to errant Gryffindors wandering the dungeons is the one you will be visiting.. that should not be an issue." Harry bit his lip, the thought of Severus and detention... Neville cleared his throat suddenly, and Harry jumped. It occurred to him that it probably wasn't appropriate to be in public for much longer with Severus's scent all over him and the suppressor so low in his bloodstream, especially if he was getting lusty enough to make an innuendo from cleaning cauldrons.

-

Severus half expected his Alpha to lead them directly back to his quarters, especially as he was almost smothered in the scent of heat and lust from the young man and was well aware that it was now his duty to sate it. So, when Harry turned them in the opposite direction, Severus didn’t have much chance to hide his confusion. It quickly became horror when he realised Alpha had dragged them to the hospital wing when there was no good reason for them to bother Poppy during the school day. Harry led them into the hospital wing and pointed to a random bed without a word. Severus sighed, he was not looking forward to whatever tests his Alpha might demand the matron performed on him and had hoped to put this off at least until Alpha was of a mind to have him with child.

“Ah, Mister Potter, you are a little early.” Madame Pomfrey fixed him with a look, and then glanced confusedly at both Severus and Neville.

“I need the suppressor tonight; I’ve no intention of putting anyone else in the hospital wing because I burned through it so fast.” He glanced sideways at Severus, and Poppy’s eyes went wide with understanding.

“If this was what you required,” Severus muttered pointedly, “I am the school potions master, who do you suppose brews that atrocity for your consumption?" He barely had a chance to argue more as Harry took the vial from Poppy, and before anyone could stop him, unstoppered it and downed the lot in one mouthful.

"As long as I don't throw it back up? We should be fine." Harry made a face and handed the vial to Severus since he was closer than Neville. "See? Taken. Ugh. Why does it make me want to throw up?" He tipped his head back, resting it against the cold stone wall he’d commandeered as a place to lean himself and breathed shallowly, knowing it usually helped quell the urge to vomit.

He was so focused on holding down his lunch that he didn't notice Severus watching him with minute care, assessing his responses and cataloguing his complaints for almost five minutes. Severus was glancing between him and the empty vial when he finally looked up.

"Poppy? Which batch is this one from?"

"Oh _no_ , we agreed,” Harry cracked an eye open warily to try and glare and promptly closed it again when his vision swam dangerously, “ I'll make do until the season is over, you've been working yourself to exhaustion as it is!" Harry declared weakly.

Severus huffed at him. "There are many things we agreed to wait to implement until the season had concluded, and yet here we are, _Alpha_." Severus shot back pointedly.

"Your notation on the crate is twenty-Seven dash Beta, Severus."

 "Hmm. Very well, I will have to start a new journal then. I had hoped that variant, while still controlling symptoms of an Alpha in a rut would also not lead to potential illness." Severus seemed to consider him for a moment, and when Harry didn’t argue again, he turned back to the matron. " Did you ever run the standard allergy screen on him?" The nurse nodded and handed over a sheet of paper as if she had pre-empted the question. Severus glanced down at it and had to bite back a laugh as the last piece of the puzzle slipped into place.

"Only you, Alpha," Severus commented, "would develop a sensitivity to aconite."

"What?" Harry had to swallow back the rising bile in his throat. “Why would you use that in a suppressor?" Severus stared at him for several seconds as if willing him to remember, and when he did Harry had to clap a hand over his mouth to stop himself laughing lest he madeke himself sick.

"What?" Neville asked, glancing between them rapidly as if watching a tennis match.

"There is no difference between monkshood and wolfsbane," Harry muttered between careful swallows, "It is the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite." Severus was biting his lip to stop himself smirking.

"That... sounds familiar?" Neville said slowly as if he were struggling to remember.

"It is the greatest pleasure a professor could have to know that I was able to make some information sick in your eleven-year-old heads _without_ having to resort to knocking them together." Severus quipped quietly.

Harry's shoulders heaved once, and he waved before Neville thrust a handy bedpan into Harry's grip. Harry then threw up and grimaced. "Ugh. Yeah. It stuck. Believe me. It stuck." Even if he did find the conversation funny, his stomach had not appreciated the jolt where Severus’s quip had tickled him.

Severus eyed him speculatively. "Well, as precisely none of that would have had the opportunity to enter your bloodstream, Alpha..." He turned to the matron, "Do you have any of batch forty-two- sigma left, Poppy?" She frowned at him in question, and Severus sighed impatiently. "Unlike the wolfsbane potion; the substitution of winter aconite, when brewed once the season is underway, does not affect the efficacy of the suppressor. It is also a marginally cheaper ingredient, it has also been proven far less toxic to humans, and does not contain the same compound element that is triggering this allergic reaction."

"I believe I set that batch aside when Tillerson ended up with purple boils, Severus."

"That was because Wetherspoon hexed him, Ma'am. Mind, he called her a tramp... soo... _eh_?" Neville just shrugged, having watched the entire mess unfold.

" _Ooh_ , drama to distract me from my weak stomach while these two finish bickering over potions ingredients." Harry had meant it as a joke, but in a weakened state it came out a little harsh. He managed to tack a smile on to ease the tension he'd almost caused.

 "What?” He demanded when they turned to glare at him, “I've been a patient enough times to know how this goes. First you," He pointed at Madam Pomfrey, "Try something, then _he_ ," He pointed at Severus, "waltzes in, _calm as you please_ , and explains in no uncertain terms why you are wrong, and that potion should not be mixed with this balm _or whatever._ Then you glare at each other for a bit until he threatens to buy the head a treat so he can have his way... then _you_ let him do what he wants, and I walk out fine the following morning."

"I can always admit you, Mr Potter." Poppy threatened blue eyes narrowed. When Severus gave a distressed whine, all three heads whipped towards the Omega, who was blushing, but his eyes were wide. Harry reached out to him, and Severus stood and stepped towards him haltingly, Harry didn’t say a word about it, he didn’t have to, as he squeezed Severus’s hand reassuringly and let Neville wrap arms around his Omega from behind. He knew how much the thought of not being with Severus was adding to the churning of his stomach, so he could just imagine what it was doing to his Omega to contemplate such an eventuality.

"Not even the promise of a sherbert lemon in the morning could keep me here tonight, Poppy." Harry quipped quietly, and she smiled at him and the shared memories he'd invoked. He’d never really commented on her habit of keeping a bowl of sherbert lemons and offering them to anyone leaving the wing after a night in one of the beds before. They both knew it was her little offering to Professor Dumbledore's memory because it used to drive her slightly batty. Somewhere around Harry's third year, he had realised that it was a tradition that included her demanding that the students only eat one _“For Merlin’s Sake, Albus! they'll rot their teeth, and you know Severus won't brew Skele Gro or Denta-Fettle for that!”_  Followed by the old headmaster sneakily offering the student another when she turned her back.

“Very well, Mr Potter. Here it is then, the Sigma variant.” She set the potion in Harry’s hand, and he sighed, already knowing he was going to want to throw this up too.

“Such a thing, for a bonded Alpha… is a blasphemy...” Severus managed tightly, fingers curled into fists at his side.

“I will not risk you, _either_ of you,” Harry growled, green eyes bright with determination in an otherwise pale face.

“The only time a bonded Alpha uses such a potion is if the Omega is so ill, badly damaged, or _dead_ , Harry,” Neville said.

“Is that tradition?” Neville knew that Harry was being sarcastic, but Severus had no way of knowing he wasn’t. Severus didn’t know about the months reading magical genealogies, histories and etiquette manuals at night after a gruelling day rebuilding Hogwarts and Diagon Alley brick by brick.

“Yes.” Both Neville and Severus answered, and Neville was already shaking his head as Harry uncorked the vial.

“ _Well bollocks to that then_. You are barely sleeping as it is, even without me pawing at you, Sev. And Neville? _Never again_. I will let it kill me before I risk you like that again.” Harry hadn’t seen Severus look so close to rage since before the end of the war, but on this, he wasn’t going to back down.

“Cheers!” He added facetiously as he tipped it to his lips.

“Severus? Harry is not doubting that you’re willing, and believe me, he wants you more than he thinks _he_ can handle or he wouldn’t be taking that swill.” Neville murmured quietly as he took Severus’s still clenched fist in his own and stroked the knuckles until they relaxed, “He's just a stubborn bastard. Unless he knows something I don’t?” Neville glanced between the Alpha and Omega and raised his eyebrows. Harry shook his head once, sharply, as he swallowed the last of the potion and it burned down his throat.

“Doubt it; just once, we’d both been drinking, too much suppressor in the mix too.” Harry bit out between compulsive swallows, he knew exactly what Neville was asking, but judging by the way Severus startled, Severus hadn’t, and it caught him by surprise that the Beta would presume there was any chance of pregnancy after only one night. “Shouldn’t be any damage,” Harry added when he realised that it probably wouldn’t occur to Severus to consider if he were injured, “you know how I slow down with a drink in me,” He added pointedly, and he watched Neville relax a fraction. Severus was still glaring mutinously at the now empty vial as if it had the potential to explode and kill them all.

“Don’t worry yourself, Severus, we have a lifetime to break him of this routine.” Harry frowned in question at Neville’s vague comment, and Neville glared at him pointedly, “he’ll learn one day that he doesn’t have to sacrifice himself _every_ time.” Even as Severus’s body reacted to the words and he turned, pressing himself into his Beta’s arms and craving the way the young man's arms wrapped around him protectively, Severus couldn’t help mentally berating himself for his almost childish weakness, but the thought of losing his Alpha over something like this… it _hurt_.

“Yes well,” Harry bit out harshly, “ _old habits die hard_.” He watched Severus whimper as he processed the words. “And I’ve not died permanently so far, so I’ve every intention of being a cretinous little irk in both your sides for a good century and a bit yet.” Neville opened his mouth as if to chastise Harry for being so harsh, “doesn’t mean I’m about to be such a pain in your arses that I tear them open though.” Harry finished, and Neville clamped his mouth shut before he snarled something equally vicious back.

“It’s a very good job I’m used to you being such a wanker when you’re sick. You _know that_!” Neville hissed out, Severus hadn’t let go of him yet, and he was currently experiencing a wave of protective feeling that he’d never expected to have for the Omega. Neville lowered his voice to a soothing whisper before he addressed the Omega. “It’s alright, Severus, he’s not used to having a stomach full enough to make him feel sick, makes him a bit sharp when it catches him off guard.”

“He’s sat right here.” Harry bit out.

“ _He’s_ lucky I haven’t tied him to that bed for the night and force-fed him a dose of  Hypericum to make him stop whinging!” Neville shot back. Severus wasn’t quite sure that this was what they had meant by not being entirely formal as his Alpha and Beta tore verbal strips from one another. He made the conscious decision not to involve himself, although somehow he got the impression that he’d caused this, it was grating on his nerves on top of the building regret that he hadn’t slapped that godforsaken vial out of his Alpha’s hands, let his scent loose and _damn the consequences_.

Neville watched his Alpha sigh and touch his forehead as if trying to massage away a headache and he softened.

“Sit down before you fall down, Har…” he tried quietly, knowing that he’d done the right thing when Harry perched himself on the edge of the bed without a word and buried his face in his hands. Neville felt Severus go still and half pull away from him, they exchanged a glance, and he understood.

“I swear next season I’m just going to fill up on dreamless sleep and let it pass me by, safer for everyone that way,” Harry mumbled tiredly as the suppressor worked its way into his bloodstream and the nausea was replaced by the inevitable fuzziness of exhaustion. He stiffened, and half looked up when a hand touched his shoulder.

“No one expects you to be infallible, Alpha,” Severus murmured softly, and Harry half smiled and squeezed his Omega’s hand gratefully. He glanced over at Neville, and his Beta nodded once.

“Well,” Harry answered shortly and with no real heat, “you never did anyway.” He quipped and pulled Severus onto the bed with him as he reached a hand out to his Beta to step closer and take. “do you have anything to do today, Nev?” He asked softly, and Neville shook his head.

“Told Pomona not to expect me tomorrow, even if you two make it to Seventh-year potions I can use that time better than being up to my elbows in soil,” Neville commented, and Harry nodded.

“So as soon as I can stand up without getting seasick I vote we make a strategic retreat back to Severus’s quarters then,” He leaned and added jokingly, “If we haven’t scared you off already?” and nudged his Omega slightly. Severus swatted at him almost playfully.

“I have faced much worse than a pair of hormonal teenage boys.” He answered pointedly and smirked when they both snorted in amusement. “although I intend to have words with the elves,” Harry frowned in question, “about spiking student’s pumpkin juice with Skelegro.” He quipped eyeing them both and how they were both head and shoulders taller than him almost critically. Neville laughed quietly as he leaned in to touch a kiss on Harry’s lips in apology for the earlier harsh words. Harry chuckled to himself.

“What?”

“Lockhart when he vanished my arm bone,” Harry snickered.

“What about it?”

“I choked on the Skelegro, and Poppy asked if I’d been expecting pumpkin juice.” Severus joined in his laugh a moment later at Neville’s expression. Harry knew he was exhausted when he couldn’t entirely stop himself laughing at the memory.

\--

 

“If you must insist on taking that potion, Alpha, then I insist that you follow the dosage instructions properly and refrain from trying to stay upright.” Severus hissed at him and pushed Harry into the bed firmly, Harry laughed weakly.

“Fine,” Harry grabbed his Omega’s wrist and yanked, “then I insist that you keep me company.” Severus went down with a low grunt of surprise and landed in a heap on the bed as Neville stepped back into the room. He stared at them for several seconds and then laughed uproariously.

“That’s it, you’re definitely on _Alpha-watch_ from now on. Usually takes me a lot longer to talk him into resting when he’s taken that stuff,” he commented to Severus who went a lovely shade of pink that made his Alpha want nothing more than to pull him close and keep him there.

“Don’t think you’re getting out of it either, if I have to lay here, you’re joining.” He pulled the blanket from under Severus who wriggled free as he kicked his shoes off the end of the bed just in time for Harry to wrap arms around him and lift the blanket for Neville to slip under. In the standard double bed it was something of a squeeze for the three of them, but as none seemed particularly concerned with observing the concept of personal space, it wasn’t as difficult to fit as Severus might have imagined. He was getting used to Alpha pressing into his neck every chance he got and could just about convince himself that he wasn’t committing any tremendous faux pas by lifting his head to give the teen better access whenever he liked. He was the Omega, after all, it was his entire role to be available on demand.  

Severus could feel his body heating up, responding to the touch and perceived requirement to be ready. It was a reflex, bred into him, and it still irritated him. He knew his Alpha didn’t want him tonight, but his body wasn’t taking the soft caresses as anything but a cue to open up.

“So responsive,” Alpha’s low mumble made Severus go still with fear and take extra care controlling his breathing, Alpha smiled into his neck, and Severus still couldn’t make himself relax. He wasn’t supposed to respond; he wasn’t supposed to want this, it had been drilled into him since before he’d known what he was that his instincts were unacceptable.

Harry exchanged a concerned glance with Neville who shrugged at him, having undoubtedly noticed Severus’s reaction. Harry wasn’t stupid he knew what condition Severus was in, and he had no intention of making it worse tonight; Severus was exhausted and malnourished, and weeks of sleeping with Neville had taught Harry to recognise the tremors caused by spending too long under the cruciatus curse when he felt them.  Harry slipped his hand under the t-shirt Severus had on and established a slow rhythm of stroking over a tiny ridge of scarring just below Severus’s bottom rib. Severus pined softly, and Harry kissed his cheek lightly.

“I know Omega,” he murmured softly, “I just want to hold you tonight, but if it gets too much let us know, ok?” Harry whispered as his eyes slipped closed and he nodded half to sleep.

“Harry, do you think you’d mind if i-” Neville started to ask and Harry shrugged.

“I’m half asleep, Nev, I want both of you here, but what you get up to, is up to you two tonight,” Harry mumbled. It would be nice to know his Beta and Omega had taken to each other, but Harry hadn’t seen any indication that either of them was even slightly attracted to the other and he wasn’t about to force them together for his entertainment. He felt Severus lean back into him almost nervously as Neville’s gaze dropped to him and Harry let out a low growl of warning. “Up to _both_ of you.” He repeated impatiently.

Severus startled, and Harry stopped stroking his Omega’s stomach and laid his hand possessively over the spot just above Severus’s navel, he was fighting to keep his eyes open surrounded by the comfort of the bed and the warmth from Severus in his arms. Neville reached out carefully, and Severus whined, he didn’t move, but his scent took on an odd edge Harry couldn’t place. Severus physically flinched and recoiled when Neville touched him, and Harry’s arms were around his Omega in a moment, grounding him and holding him still, so he didn’t lash out in the sudden panic that had caught him unawares. Harry was suddenly wide awake.

“Alpha!” Severus heard himself squeak, felt his body react to the Beta and the overwhelming shame and fear hit him like a tidal wave. He should _not_ be aroused by anyone, but his Alpha and yet his body was reacting strongly to the thought of Beta touching him. His instincts were warring with his good sense, his needs and wants were at odds, and all he could think was that he wasn’t about to do _anything_ without his Alpha's expressed permission.

“Easy Omega, you’re alright, neither of us is going to force anything on you.” Harry coached softly, and Severus melted into his Alpha’s words long before he’d processed what Harry had actually said. Harry knew the moment Severus was back to himself because he swore quietly in frustration at himself.

“Who hurt you, Severus?” Neville asked quietly, and Severus’s jaw clicked impatiently, he wasn't quite ready to have that conversation yet and didn’t appreciate being asked. Neville held up his hands in surrender a moment later when Severus didn’t stop glaring. He felt his Alpha’s grip tighten around his body and let himself relax.

“He asked you a question, little one…” Severus would have hexed, or just punched, anyone else for trying to force him to answer. “We can’t support you if we don’t know what happened.” Alpha wasn’t leaving him any room to argue.

“The list is long,” the words tasted like ash in his mouth, “and the night is not.” If he started talking about every potentially damaging experience he’d ever had, he might never stop.

“What do you need?” Harry hadn’t ever realised how often Neville asked that question, but he was grateful for his Beta’s ability to do so now. Severus didn’t answer for a moment as his Alpha scented him and his body relaxed of its own accord.

“Time.” Severus finally managed weakly. “Understanding.” Alpha’s touches were getting his blood back up, and they weren’t helping his focus any.

“C’mere Nev,” Harry mumbled against Severus’s neck, “gimme your’and.” Harry reached out and took is beta’s hand in his own, guiding Neville’s fingers to stroke carefully over Severus’s neck. Severus mewled and melted, a second later he growled in frustration when he tensed again. He knew exactly what his Alpha was doing, but his body wasn’t reacting properly. “Easy Sev, just us, just us,” Severus let himself relax as Alpha carried pushing gently, guiding Beta’s hands over his neck and face as if waiting to see how much Severus would take before he lashed out. It was taking more self-control than he cared to admit not to. Beta’s finger brushed over the love bite Severus still had on his neck from the night before, and Severus made a sound like a wounded animal. “Break.” Severus wasn’t sure he knew what that meant until beta's hand moved away and he heard himself whine, bereft at the loss.

“I want you two to be able to take comfort from each other,” Alpha said from just below Severus’s ear. Severus hadn’t realised that his Alphas words were what he’d been waiting for until they were uttered. His Alpha should have been violently possessive, and his instinct had been to placate that and obey it, the idea of anyone else touching him had triggered the need to defend his Alpha’s property.

“You may have to-” Severus began to intone quietly, and Alpha twitched behind him, “force this... if it is your wish.” Alpha went stock still, and Severus had never seen Beta go white so fast. Apparently knowing theoretically that it was an option and considering as one didn’t sit well with either of them. Somehow that didn’t make Severus feel any better about this.

“Absolutely not!”

Severus and Neville both recoiled at the rage in that simple statement. Severus tried to curl into a ball, terrified for a few seconds before gentle hands at his stomach reminded him exactly who held him.

“Forgive me, Alpha…” Severus murmured.

“I will never force something like this on you, little one. _Never_. I do not condone… how…” Harry trailed off, and Severus could feel that green gaze boring into the back of his neck.

“You’d never, Alpha, I know that. You have been entirely honourable, even… kind.” he had to suppress a flinch at the expectation of some kind of blow for daring to pass that kind of judgement. When it didn’t come, he carried on. “Yet my --” Severus stopped abruptly and swallowed hard.

“Your?” Neville asked leadingly.

“My instincts demand that if anyone is to touch me, it is only that of my Alpha… at least when it comes to matters of the bed.” Severus blurted out in a rush, the flinch dragging through his body and a whine trailing the end of the sentence. This was why he’d spent a lifetime taking such inordinate care over letting any Alpha near him and know what he was. He’d known what a bonding would do to him, and he had been rightly horrified at the prospect of allowing himself to be that weak around anyone while there was still a war on.

“Harry? I know that look. What?”

“Hermione hypothesised once that an omega is coded to protect a bloodline. She said that there are studies that change even our base scent profile once an alpha and omega have bonded. Bonded mates mean any other touch should be rejected. It really is an instinct.”

“Oh.” Severus' voice was incredulous. He had good reason not to trust anything Hermione said about their dynamic given her appalling behaviour over it, but even he could admit that it didn’t surprise him that she had gone out of her way to learn everything there was to know about it.

“I mean, I don’t know for certain without another Alpha or Omega to ask who could compare the two of us before and after but, I’ve never known Hermione’s research be wrong before.” He added.

Neville managed a weak laugh; he was fascinated as well.

“So there is a reason, Omega-Mine. But, she also proposed a way around that instinct, knowing I’d have a bonded Beta as well. If you are both willing to try, that is?”

“Uh...sure?” Neville said, used to Harry’s slightly harebrained schemes working out.

“Will you roll towards me, Sev?” Harry asked, and the Omega did as bid, turning so that he was face to face with his Alpha. Harry then leaned in and pressed a slow, soft kiss to the older man’s mouth, tongue sweeping gently forward. Severus submitted to it, allowing his Alpha’s tongue entry and then shivered as teeth nipped at his bottom lip. He blinked when Harry drew back and twisted slightly.

Dark eyes watched as Harry reached out his free hand and dragged his Beta down into a similar kiss, but Severus noted the fact that the Beta did more than just submit, he kissed back and also went seeking into his Alpha’s mouth. Then Harry turned back to him and kissed again.

Severus made a noise as he registered the difference in the kiss. He could _taste_ the Beta mixed into Harry’s own flavour. When Harry pulled back, Severus made a noise and waited anxiously for Harry’s mouth to return to his.

He blinked when Harry did not and made a motion at Neville, who obviously understood enough to lean over Harry and gently brush his lips against Severus’ own. Severus froze for a few seconds and then the traces of his Alpha’s flavour registered, and he yielded to the kiss.

He whined when Neville pulled back to breathe, leaning after the kiss before a muffled noise of amusement caused him to stop and stare at his alpha in horror.

“She was right, and he’s a fantastic kisser, isn’t he?” Harry asked fond amusement colouring his voice and turning his smile.

“Yeah.”

“Yes.”

Severus and Neville looked at each other, and both blushed. Neville leaned forward and kissed Severus again, and the older man relaxed into it, instincts appeased by the fact that Harry had started the dance and now content to follow where the Beta led.

Severus frowned when Harry wiggled out from between the pair of them with a sheepish smile. “No matter how much I love watching this, I need to use the restroom.”

Neville just shook his head as Harry vanished through the correct door and carefully scooted closer to Severus. “Nothing you aren’t comfortable with, Omega. If I do something, you don’t like? Tell me.”

Severus blinked, remembering the words from the night before. The Alpha and _this_ Beta were well matched. He nodded though, realising the Beta was waiting for some signal before he would continue.

Lips settled against him again, and Severus sighed. He lifted cautious hands and placed them against the Beta’s shirt clad back, waiting for some signal he’d done the wrong thing. When Neville kissed him a bit harder, he relaxed further -- apparently, he was allowed to touch.

A tongue gently slid along the seam of his lips, and he parted them. When the tongue dipped in, he kept himself still, allowing the exploration of his mouth without resistance, knowing if it were _anyone_ else, there would be blood. The tongue retreated, and then darted in again, a bit more forcefully.

Severus didn’t think when he tried to catch the muscle and sucked on it a bit before letting it go. He felt a hand in his hair and whined when the Beta pulled back again to breathe. He blinked went when he was tugged on top of the other man. He flinched though when their hips aligned.

Nothing could mistake the feel of an aroused male against his hip. His dark eyes widened for a moment before he stilled, reminding himself -- he was an Omega, this was expected, even required.

“Come ‘ere.” Neville murmured, tangling a hand in the Omega’s dark hair and gently drawing him down. Severus settled his hands on either side of the Beta’s head, supporting his weight as the beta started kissing him again, tongue darting in and withdrawing. Severus made a frustrated noise when the muscle slipped away and pressed his lips more firmly against Neville’s before daring to try and kiss the beta back.

The noise Neville made was pleased, and the Beta’s mouth slid open under Severus’ questing tongue and allowed him to explore freely. He shifted his head slightly and then groaned when teeth nibbled at his lower lip, and that tongue traced soothing little licks across it, to apologise for being a little rough.

When a hand slid under his shirt, Severus again paused and pulled back, eyes watchful. When the hand moved up and started rubbing gentle circles, Severus relaxed a little bit. Down probably would have been another story, but the beta wasn’t trying to get his pants off yet, and… he realised that he was content with that.

“One would never… hmm… expect you to be all lean muscle.” Neville murmured before he gently shifted them to their sides again, with Severus’ back towards the door. Severus rolled fully onto his back and parted his legs, expecting the Beta to crawl onto him.

He blinked when Neville instead gently plucked at the tee he wore. Severus understood the unspoken signal and sat up just enough to peel it off. He was bemused when the beta matched the move. When he lifted a tentative hand, Neville only smiled and nodded.

Long fingers traced over pectoral muscle and skimmed along pebbled nipples, not pausing as muscle flexed under his fingers. He stopped at the waist of the Beta’s sleep trousers and turned his hands back up, deliberately tracing through the dark blond hair that dusted from the waist to his navel and then lightly over his chest.

“You like?” Neville asked, eyes seeming anxious suddenly.

“You are well built, Mr Longbottom. And appealing to the senses.” Severus responded, colour dusting his cheeks, even as his gaze fixed itself to the band of the other man’s trousers. He twitched when warm, calloused hands slowly began running over his own pale chest.

“Okay?”

“Yes. Just… unexpected.” Severus admitted. He hissed when gentle fingers explored a nipple, revealing a bit of sensitivity. He groaned when he saw the smile the noise had prompted. Apparently, that fact pleased the beta.

“Harry and I are both tactile, Severus. We like to touch, but that’s probably ‘cause we didn’t get it younger?” Neville mused before he lowered his head and licked at a nipple, scattering any thought Severus might have had of pursuing that particular conversational topic.

Severus squirmed and then froze as he realised he was aroused. He pushed at the beta’s head, and Neville looked up with curious brown eyes. “What?”

“I should be --”

“No, Severus. There is no ‘should’. Just enjoy it. This is what I _want_ to do. You are not required to do anything but enjoy.”

Severus made a disbelieving noise that the beta cut off with a strategic swipe of his fingers over the scar above his left ribs, and promptly melted.

“And for the record,” he whispered softly, making Severus shiver as hot air ghosted over his flesh, “he wouldn’t expect you to roll over either,” Neville said and glanced up at the bathroom door. Harry was taking his sweet time in there; maybe he’d decided to shower? Neville wasn’t sure he cared right now.

Lowering his head again he returned his focus to playing with the Omega’s nipples, enjoying the slight squirm he was getting along with the breathy little noises. He smirked against flesh when a particularly wicked swirl of tongue and lips managed a choked cry and hands reaching up to grab his head.

Severus forced his hands back down, opening his mouth to apologise when Neville lifted his head. “Don’t bother. I’m glad you like it. You’ve done _nothing_ wrong, Little Omega.”

The snarl from Severus froze the both of them. Neville only nodded, “Right then. I’m sorry, Professor.”

Something about hearing his title allowed Severus to relax when the diminutive had raised his hackles. So soon after bonding, Neville didn’t need explaining what he’d done wrong or why Severus had reacted harshly.  Severus reached out a cautious hand, and Neville followed when he carefully drew their mouths back together.

Severus twitched when Neville settled his weight on him, but it was only a twitch, and the other man seemed to ignore it. He turned his chin down, protecting his bonding mark when Neville’s lips trailed along his neck, and the beta permitted it, keeping his mouth soft and avoiding that section of skin.

He shivered when the beta only briefly toyed with his chest and scooted further down. Iron hands on his hips kept him still when a mouth teased him through his sleep pants. He jerked though and made a protesting noise. Neville stopped.

“Beta… I should… that is to say…”

“You should let him,” Both Severus and Neville startled, “our beta has a skilled mouth,” Harry added with a smile when they both stared as if asking exactly how long he’d been stood in the doorway.

“If that is your wish, Alpha.” Severus murmured, body going lax. When Neville recoiled, Severus blinked. Wasn’t he giving the appropriate response? Alpha had --

“Nothing you don’t _want_ , Professor.” Neville’s voice was harsh, and Severus jerked back, wondering how he’d misread the situation so badly to get _that_ response.

“Severus, Neville is right, exactly what you want. Neville… In the muggle world, could be considered a switch, at least when it comes to sex?” Harry’s voice was amused, and Severus’ eyes cut to him, one brow rising in polite disbelief.

“Harry?” Neville’s voice was confused.

“Muggle thing, Nev. Remember, you are dealing with muggle raised Half-Bloods here. We probably have the language you won’t understand.”

“Are you not a little young to know such language, Alpha?” He was so shocked that Harry had used it all sense of decorum went out the window.

“Consider who my best friend is, Severus. When Charlie Weasley started explaining _this_ kind of dynamic to me, she dropped the books on the muggle equivalent, of sorts, on me too.” Harry just shrugged. Neville made a noise of consideration before he shrugged and traced careful fingers across the curse scar along Severus’ side and he mewled in response; even if they didn’t understand why it seemed that both Alpha and Beta had learned, or guessed, how sensitive the spot was.

Severus blinked and hitched in a surprised breath when the beta lowered his head again and mouthed at the erection that had not flagged even with discussion and being startled. Apparently, his Alpha was… a noise tore from his throat as just the right amount of pressure was applied to the head of his erection even through the cloth. His eyes slid closed, to just _enjoy_.

“So responsive… beautiful.” Severus made a pleased noise when his Alpha’s voice registered. He lifted his hips when the weight that was his beta shifted and didn’t protest when his sleep pants were drawn down and then off. When that mouth returned though, his hands once again went to the beta’s head and buried in the hair.

He wasn’t sure if he wanted to sink himself into the mouth or hold his beta closer, so his fingers flexed, and he made a strained noise. When the mouth left him, he whined in protest. The kiss on the head of his cock had him gasping in shock.

When a tongue traced down his length, he shook and gasped again. He’d never… he blinked and allowed himself to look. _His_ beta was sucking on his cock. His. Beta. Severus let his head drop back and just gave a high keen, brain unable to process what he’d just seen because it warred with his training and his gut instincts.

Then that mouth closed over him again. He jerked violently and snarled though when he felt fingers slide over his thighs as if trying to ease his legs open. Neville froze, and he heard his Alpha draw in a sharp breath.

“Okay, all right, shh. Thought you’d like that, Omega-Mine.” Harry murmured, and Severus blinked and turned his head, staring at his Alpha who had eased onto the bed without them really realising it. It had been his Alpha’s hand on his legs. He let his legs open and flushed, dropping his gaze. Neville pulled off and sat back.

“No. If you aren’t comfortable with it, no.” Harry murmured. Severus made a low noise but did not draw his legs closed again.

“What were you going to do?” Neville asked, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth.

“Well, I know how much I enjoy having my balls played with, and you seemed a little busy focusing on Severus, I thought --”

“Alpha… if that is your --”

“Nothing you aren’t comfortable with.” Both young men said together. Severus blinked and stared.

“I think both of you are forgetting something, gentlemen. I am _your_ Omega. _Yours_. That means that by law you may do whatever you wish with me.” Severus said, his voice kept low.

“Because the law is never wrong?” Harry muttered darkly. “If it makes you feel better about it, just assume we’ve both got a consent kink, Omega.”  

Severus’ brow rose again. He was becoming more and more curious as to exactly which books Miss Granger had offered his Alpha to educate him and where on earth a teenage girl had even found them. “A consent kink, my Alpha? Would that also translate into a preference for verbal encouragement?”

The smirk his Alpha gave was sinful. Severus made a considering noise and relaxed a little bit further. He hissed when Neville’s hand curled around his cock and then lowered his head again. This time he nodded when Harry’s hand slid between his legs and began to fondle his balls. He shifted and bit his lip to contain the noise when his Alpha’s thumb found a particularly sensitive spot. He groaned when Neville pulled off again.

“Whatever that was? He _really_ liked it, Harr. Do that again.” Neville dropped his mouth again, and Severus whined when suction was applied. He was doing his best not to arch into the mouth wrapped around him, but with his Alpha’s hands on him, he wasn’t sure he would be able to remain still.

The thumb was applied again and then rolled in a little circle. Severus felt his toes curl and he shifted up, eyes sliding closed as something rose hotly. He couldn’t contain the little cry that ripped from his throat.

The beta sucked again and then slid down his length. A gentle tug from his Alpha’s hand had everything rushing forward and his mind whiting out as his body finally gave up the fight, and he came, spilling in his Beta’s mouth.Alpha’s lips over his own swallowed most of the low cry he let out as his vision swam dangerously before it settled.

Severus only twitched feebly when he felt his Alpha’s fingers trail through the slick he’d also produced, but he blinked when those fingers were pulled back, and Neville suddenly made an interesting noise from where he had turned onto his side. He glanced down the length of his body and realised the hand that had been touching him had vanished into the beta’s pants.

He merely watched as his Beta bucked convulsively into his Alpha’s hand, lips bitten to choke back his cries, dark gaze intent, even if his own pleasure was still buzzing through his body. He only sighed when the sharp scent of ejaculate coloured the air, Neville’s head pillowed on his thigh.

Minutes later, Harry looked up at him. “Want to wiggle back into clothes? Or are you comfortable sleeping like this?”

“I will grow used to it if that is you wish. However, if an emergency should arise in the night, Alpha, I must be able to respond to it.”

“Clothes it is then.” Harry sighed before he staggered out of bed and back into the bathroom. He blinked when the alpha shuffled over to the chest of drawers Severus kept clothing in. Severus shook his head when Harry returned with a pair of pants, sleep pants, and a damp cloth.

His Alpha allowed him to take the cloth and Neville made a protesting sound when Severus cleaned him up first, taking a surreptitious lick of his Beta’s flavour before he cleaned himself up and pulled his clothing to rights.

Severus only blinked when he was snuggled between the Alpha and Beta, but settled easily enough, tipping his head so that his Alpha could get at his neck and sighing when Harry’s mouth settled over his bond mark for a few seconds. He smirked when Neville made a content sound after he nosed at the back of the Beta’s neck and laid an arm across the other man’s waist. Alpha laughed quietly to himself.

“Nev you owe me a galleon,” he muttered and sighed sleepily, “told you he’d be a cuddler too.”

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hypericum is St John's Wort, known as a mood stabilising plant.


	15. Chapter 15

“So, I’m going to go see Gran today…” Neville opened the conversation hesitantly, and Harry glanced up from where he was stuffing food into his own mouth while he had been sneakily watching Severus sip his coffee at the head table, “I think she can really help us with all of this.” There was a definite air of anticipation in the hall this morning that had made Harry determined to be ready to leave before the post owls arrived with the paper, he didn’t want to see what The Prophet had written today.

“If you say so, can’t be worse than anyone else giving it a bash. We should arrange a formal dinner as well, you know,” Harry swallowed a mouthful of pumpkin juice, “nice and traditional… if she’s into that?” He asked. Neville blinked at him, he knew Harry didn’t give a whit about tradition.

“You’d do that?"

“If that’s what it takes for her to like me and be happy for us then I’d do whatever it took, I thought that was pretty obvious?” Neville flushed and busied himself buttering some toast. “What do you think she’ll say about it?” He glanced up at Severus, being apart today was going to be hell for both of them.

“We need to tell her before the new year, she won’t take it well if she reads it in a list in the paper.” Harry frowned.

“List?”

“The New Year's List?” Neville asked significantly as if he expected Harry to know what he was talking about. “It’s traditional, after the winter season the list of submitted declarations is published on New Years Day.” Harry choked on his drink and Neville jumped up to thump his back and offer him a napkin.

“What?” he managed as he dabbed at his face. “Since when?"

“Since always, and there’s no getting out of it.” Harry groaned and then glanced back up at Severus who seemed preoccupied with his morning coffee.

“There’s got to be something?” Neville shook his head at Harry’s slightly petulant question.

Harry coughed to clear his throat. “So then, deadline. Lovely."

“I’m sorry, Alpha.” Neville murmured before he caught the look Harry threw at him, “Sorry, Harr. I forget at times. And I should remember. You said it yourself, a pair of Half-Bloods."

“So I’m going to need this explained, in _detail_ , so I know what I’m up against.”

“It’s not really, up… Harr. It just, well… is?"

Harry closed his eyes and counted to ten, slowly. Sometimes the wizarding world drove him mad. When he opened them again, Neville was holding a glass of pumpkin juice ready. He took it with a slight smile and downed it in one go.

“Got time for the Library?”

“For this? Private would be best, Alpha.” Neville said, and Harry caught the change in inflexion. He only nodded and rose with his Beta, letting the other man lead him away; because the discussion was probably going to anger him, and Neville wanted him to explode in a space that wouldn’t scare the students or his Omega half to death.

Harry blinked and made a mental note to ask about it when Severus’ wards allowed them both through the door without his presence. He sat when Neville pushed him towards the sofa. He met his Beta’s gaze and waited for the other shoe to drop. He remembered this type of behaviour with Charlie. Whatever was about to come out of his mouth would set him off.

“Legally we can’t stop them publishing the fact that Severus submitted the declaration, or that he named you as the Alpha who’d claimed him, and after yesterday no one is going to believe I haven't been involved.” Neville sighed and ran a stressed hand through his hair. “So we can either wait for that or we can pre-empt it. Either way, it’s probably best to wait at least until the school breaks for the holidays, Alpha.”

Harry did not want to think about Severus trying to control a classroom if some jumped up newly matured alpha decided to be uppity, it was a recipe for disaster. For several moments he sat imagining the many awful outcomes that might arise.

“Why did I let him renew his contract again?” Harry asked weakly. “We can’t protect him, and even once the season is over, he’s going to be in no position to protect himself.” It was taking everything he had not to storm up to the potions classroom, kick the door in if he had to and drag Severus out of there to somewhere safer and closer, _like their bed._

“Harry? This is Severus Snape. Former Headmaster. Former Death Eater. Former Spy. He’s _Your_ Omega. He de-limbed Moody. No jumped up little first-time alpha will faze him. Or challenge him. Even if his mask does slip, he’s still _Snape_.” Neville paused for breath mid-rant, “and even if he doesn’t fight back, once they know you’re his alpha, how many people do you think would dare so much as look at him the wrong way? You defeated V-Voldemort, killed half a dozen death eaters in battle and willingly released the list of spells from you wand that included all three unforgivables cast perfectly. Your reputation will keep him safe if nothing else.”

“Nev? He is _mine_. Potter. He took my name.”

“Snape-Potter then. Still, most of the kids are just going to call him Snape until that fact is dropped on their heads.” Neville paused, “And even then, some might not, because. _Scary Snape_. Remember?”

“Nev, he didn’t just tack on my name, he literally let his own go. You know how Gringotts keys work; his name is Severus Potter. Not Severus Potter-Snape. And he did that. Just accepted it.”

“Actually… the default is to wipe the Omega’s last name and let the Alpha’s supplant it. He wouldn’t have _had_ to make the decision. It would have been made for him. Yet, if he’d wanted to, he could have kept his.” Neville turned away and began to pace along the rug thoughtfully. “All he had to do was tick a box to say he wanted to keep his name and you’d have known because they’d have written for you to confirm your consent.”

“Well, whatever he did. Legally he’s Severus Potter, that’s what the goblins engraved on his key and put on his bank card. I _looked_.”

“It _is_ traditional. I don’t know how much of that is him and how much of it is bowing to tradition. He always seemed the type anyway .” Harry considered for a moment and nodded, he couldn’t disagree with that. “So, He may try to follow expected cultural norms with you, Harry. Until you let him know what _you_ expect of him. He will default to cultural expectation. And if I know you at all, i’m telling you, it’s going to make you _mad_.”

“Why?”

“He won’t speak against you in public. He will follow your dictates in both public and private. He will eat what you tell him, wear what you require--”

“You what?!” Harry’s rage cut through the comprehensive list Neville was providing. “He’s an Omega not fifties housewife, even my _aunt_ picked her own food and clothes!” Harry had spent a lot of time looking back and realising that Vernon had not just been controlling and hurting him in that house, whether Petunia realised it or not, so he didn’t say something like that lightly.

“You remember what Shacklebolt said? How he’d die before letting his Omega work?” Neville waited for Harry’s nod. “ _That_ is tradition dictating. That is the expectation. You? Are bucking trends right now, by letting him work. By letting him be what he _is_.”

“But… I just, I want him… happy.”

“And safe. And healthy. To feel safe, you will need to set boundaries he can understand. Not orders like that… that… _thing_.” Neville said quickly, reading the rage rising in his friend’s green eyes. “Show your preferences. If you prefer him wearing the white shirts with the cravats? He will default to those, to please you. Little things will soothe him, and settle you.”

“ _He’s not a doll for me to dress up_ , Nev, I don’t get it- why can’t I just leave him be, let him be himself and have a bit of freedom to be himself _for once in his life_ ?” Harry sighed in frustration. “That’s what I want, I never wanted a mindless fucktoy, you know that. I was drawn to him because he’s his own man- even after everything, he’s still, _him_ , I don’t want him to lose that.”

“And he _won’t_ , Harry. But he will need some direction. Even if it is little things, like the shirts or the cufflinks. He switched them this morning when you looked at the green serpent set longer than the black ones he’d originally picked.”

Harry let out a sharp gasp of distress. “No… I never meant…”

“Harry, it is in an Omega at a soul-deep level.” Harry winced, and Neville frowned before he realised what he’d said and why Harry might not like it, “it’s in his bones Har, He wants to make you _happy_. If you are happy, he is _safe.”_ _Harry shuddered at how similar that sounded to his own tactic of just doing as he was told to avoid Vernon or Petunia taking a belt or a frying pan to him, “_ I’m sure Hermione could give you the information on this sort of thing.”

“Nev? I don’t _need_ that kind of information. It’s constantly in my _fucking_ head. I lived through that. I will _not_ put him through it. I would destroy myself first!”

“And I’d bet my Gringotts key he sensed that and that’s why he let you get anywhere near close enough to claim him without killing you... Harry. He knew exactly what being claimed during the season would do to him, how it would send his hormones into overdrive and temporarily destroy his ability to think clearly, he knew, and he let you in any way. If you don’t trust yourself, then trust his judgement. He picked you just as much as you picked him.”

“He’s not thinking clearly?” Harry asked, alarmed. “But-but, he’s an Occlumens, his mind is like a steel trap! How is that even possible, no one gets into his head.”

“You did,” Neville said shortly. “He can’t occlude against his instincts, Harry, it’s in his blood not in his head.” Harry was too surprised to question where Neville had heard of occlumency before.

“How bad is it?”

“He might be mildly distracted for a day or two, tops.”

“Distracted?” Harry murmured, horrified at the thought of Severus teaching distracted. He’d never in his life been so glad it was Friday.

“You sleeping in his bed for the next few nights will probably help. I can always go back to the dorms because his focus needs to be on you. I’d cloud him right now. He needs to be your priority.” When Harry opened his mouth, Neville shook his head, “Harry? You’ve done the material things that you need to do to keep him safe. He needs the other things. The emotional ones. Knowing you will be there, that he’s welcome in your bed --”

“It’s _his_ bed _,_ ” Harry argued, voice rising.

“No Harry it's not, just like it wasn’t his bank account, or his job yesterday, it’s not his bed, and it’s not his body -- not anymore.”

Harry recoiled into the sofa, nausea rising fast. He managed to choke back the urge and then was off the sofa and through the connecting door to the bathroom with little thought before he lost what he’d managed for breakfast. He sank to the tiles and shook his head as his eyes streamed. “No.”

“Harry? That’s legally the truth.”

“I--” Harry heaved again. When he lifted his head and wiped his mouth, he pinned his Beta with a glare. “It is _his_ bed. If he tells me to go, I will. His rooms. His choice. I _refuse_ to let it be anything less.”

“So you’d rather he was miserable, afraid,” Neville’s voice was shaking with unspoken anger, Harry knew what his instincts were he should have known that Severus’s were perfectly complementary to that.

“ _No_ , I just- I can’t do that to another human being, how does it make me any better than Voldemort if I do that to him?!” The words had tumbled out of Harry’s mouth before he could stop them and he knew he’d shocked his beta when Neville didn’t have an immediate answer. “What were we fighting for? What did he give twenty years spying for, if I do that?”

“ _Trust me to get the only Alpha to ever live who questions his rights over his omega_ ,” Harry glared at the quip, Neville sighed. “Harry? The difference? Simply? He chose you. He didn’t try to kill you when you approached. He could have, legally.”

“He _chose_ Voldemort too. He _thought_ he was getting a piece of safety, of care, of belonging, Nev. I know that much, because the last battle? That bastard let that slip. Just enough to let me know how _weak_ he thought Severus was.” Harry bared his teeth at that memory, but Neville didn’t step away from him.

“Are you going to brand him? Beat him bloody? Make him kneel and call you ‘Master’?” Neville challenged, voice hard but eyes wary.

“ _Never_!” Harry’s response was a roar of rage.

“Then? Show those little preferences you have in his dress. Or if you want him eating more vegetables. Or if you notice him trying to choke down liver, even though it turns his stomach like you did with me… stop him.” Harry half smiled at the memory, Neville had been determined that he should eat the stuff until Harry had gotten sick of him throwing up his dinner every day and put his foot down, “It doesn’t have to be sweeping decisions, just, show him you care. I mean, you prefer me in Gryffindor red over the grey and stripe jumpers. Why do you think _I_ switched?” Neville asked, smirking slightly. Harry gaped, he had noticed that Neville’s dress sense seemed to have improved recently, but he hadn’t realised it had been in response to him or his preferences.

“What do you think of Severus in denim?” Harry asked, a small smirk curving his lips. It was the first thing that occurred to him, but he couldn’t help that actually, it was a mildly intriguing prospect if Severus weren’t against it. He watched as Neville’s eyes widened.

“That… I’ll have to see.” Neville muttered, and Harry breathed in. He could smell a spike of arousal from his beta. Potentially a good idea then.

“So, _legally_ , Severus lost all rights to property when he was claimed?”

“Harry,” Neville said warily, “legally he doesn’t own his own _wand_ anymore. You have every legal right to take it from him whenever you want to.” Harry lost what little colour he’d managed to regain and only the fact that his stomach was empty stopped him vomiting again.

“I wouldn’t! He’s a combat veteran of two wars, Nev. It’d break something in him… to lose that.” Harry shuddered, his hand automatically went to his own wand, to check it.

“I know… I know, Harry. That’s probably why he figured you were his best choice. You would understand it.”

“How the hell do others _do_ this?” Harry wondered weakly.

“Muddle through, you mean?” Neville tried for levity, and Harry managed a small smile.

“Well, if that’s the best I can do, then, all right. Is there anything _at all_ that prevents me from sitting down and _talking_ to Severus about this?”

“You mean aside from the fact that you’ll probably scare the poor bloke witless?” Neville quipped, trying to keep the false levity going and ease the tension, “absolutely nothing.”

“Lists then?” Harry asked.

“Eh?” Was Neville’s response.

“It’s something Hermione would do. List out what she was willing and unwilling to put up with. The ‘not’ list for the Tent was… long.” Harry smirked at that one, remembering the additional _three pages_ after the _Incident With The Travel Kettle_.

“That might work. And it would be in writing, a clear thing that he can go back to.”

“Like rules on the fridge?” Harry asked, even as he went a shade paler at the thought. “Eh, not if …”

Neville knew that look and handed over the washcloth he’d wetted and rung to damp automatically. “It wouldn’t have to be the negatives, Harr. The things he has unquestioned permissions for. Things he doesn’t have to come to you for.” 

“Would it help?”

“It couldn’t hurt.” Neville shrugged and then offered a hand to Harry to help haul him off his backside. As soon as he was upright, Harry turned and reached for the mouthwash above the sink and proceeded to gargle it for several minutes despite Neville's bemusement. “Feel better now?” Harry nodded and swiped at his mouth, making a mental note to bring a toothbrush down here if he started spending more than three nights a week.

“I’m going to go see Gran, spend the morning filling her in and catching up. I’ll be back for lunch. Severus has third years for the first hour then he’s free until the seventh year double lesson this afternoon.” Harry blinked, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know how Neville knew that. Neville laughed at him. “He’s got his schedule pinned to a board in the kitchen.” Harry couldn’t help laughing at the simplicity of it.

-

“So your Alpha _does_ let you out of his sight?”

“I’ve missed you too, Gran.” Neville quipped at the false harshness, he’d found he was much closer to the woman now he wasn’t a nervous schoolboy. “So… you haven’t hexed me for not telling you which means you got my letters?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“I had hoped that the days of coded letters were over.” Neville flushed.

“We had to be careful in case the owl was intercepted, we were trying to avoid having it splashed across the front page before we finished school.” He told her apologetically.

“And you come see me with it now?”

“What I have to say I can’t risk in a letter, Gran.” Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “He’s Harry Potter, you know how much risk there is…” she nodded. “The Prophet didn’t even think, didn’t verify with either of us...” Neville hesitated, he still wasn’t sure Harry would be happy that Neville had disclosed who their Omega was, or that they even had one, to anyone else- even his Gran. “I know because they didn’t speak to me, and Harry was with an Omega at the time of printing.” She sat up straighter.

“An Omega, he moves quickly.” Neville half smiled at her observation.

“He sees what he wants, and he goes for it,”

“Who?” She asked archly, and Neville hesitated again.

“Promise me, Gran, keep it to yourself, at least until the lists or he decides to release it?”

“What do you take me for, boy? A fool?” Neville flushed and shook his head. “You think I don’t know that alpha and omega need time together without the world watching?”

“Of course not I just- this isn’t going to happen quietly, and Harry... he wants our omega comfortable with him…”

“ _Our_ Omega, Neville?” Neville’s expression blanked as he realised he’d slipped. “You have already been introduced.” Neville shrugged. “I am surprised Potter had the control to let you near the little one, within a day of bonding?”

“He’s not exactly a traditional alpha…” Neville tried. “And Omega isn’t soft.” Her expression turned calculating.

“Are you going to make me guess, _grandson_ ?” She considered him before Neville could answer. “Older, of course, no one near your own age would be mature enough…” Neville nodded and let her muse as his shoulders relaxed. “Housed at Hogwarts?” He nodded again. “One of the Profess- _he didn’t_?” Neville blinked.

“There are only three omega professors at Hogwarts, Neville.” That was news to him. “Septima is a widow, and I doubt tickles Potter’s fancy if he bonded to you.” Neville flushed on Harry’s behalf, his gran had gone ten kinds of ballistic when he’d told her he intended to attach himself to an alpha male instead of a beta female and had treated him to a two-hour rant about his duty to his bloodline. They had never spoken about it again.

“But Potter is not fool enough to approach Snape…” Neville twitched tellingly, and his Gran stared. “And he still has his head?”

A nervous laugh bubbled out of Neville’s throat.

“Both of them? Tell me everything!” It turned into a real laugh at that, his Gran loved a scandal and they both know this would fill the papers for weeks. He was so relieved that she wasn’t going mad that he forgot to wonder how she’d known about Severus in the first place.

-

Harry had to admit that being in Severus’s quarters, surrounded by his scent _was_ soothing his instincts slightly at being away from his Omega so far; but he still couldn’t stop pacing nervously once his watch had ticked to the last ten minutes of the hour and the lesson Severus was teaching. The seconds seemed to drag mockingly along as he stared at his watch and each _tiiiccck tiiiccck tiiiccck_ seemed to smirk at him as it clicked past. Harry was so wrapped up imagining all the myriad of ways that something could harm or upset his omega between his classroom and his quarters that he almost missed the groan of the hinges as the door swung open.

“Severus!” He had been slumped after throwing a bagful of homework scrolls onto the sofa absently before pinching the bridge of his nose; but at the sound of Harry’s voice he straightened up and tucked his hands behind his back, head dropped in deference to his alpha’s presence. Harry barely felt his feet touch the ground before he was right in his omegas path and staring down at him. He slipped a finger under Severus’s chin and lifted his head gently.

“Hi,” Severus’s lip quirked as he breathed back a greeting. There was something almost painfully intimate about being this close but not properly touching and Harry had to consciously fight the urge to sweep Severus into his arms. Harry had never so badly wanted to touch and kiss anyone in his life.

“Alpha?” Severus’s voice was low and questioning, his tone pitched _just so_. Harry stroked a slow thumb down his jaw and watched the tension melt from his Omega.

“I want to kiss you little one,” Severus’s eyes flew open where they had started to flutter, and he let out a low desperate whine.

“Please Alpha,” Harry had to hold himself down, remind himself that he was sober and strong and Severus wasn’t in his right mind. He leaned in slowly and swept his mouth over his omega’s lips, the kiss _started_ out chaste and soft and entirely sweet, and then Harry tasted him, and he didn’t get chance to utter any warning or catch himself as he pushed Severus back against the doorframe. His omega’s body responded perfectly to the plundering of his mouth, as Harry tangled one hand in hair to give himself the control and another gripped through robes at the bony hip beneath. Severus whined and whimpered for more.

Lips skimmed down the throat, pausing long enough to suck and nip gently at the Adam's apple that bobbed from a quick swallow and a panted breath. Yet, Severus remained passive, head tipped back, exposing his throat. He shivered when his Alpha pressed soft kisses along what flesh he could reach before a frustrated noise eased past Harry’s lips as he encountered the layers and layers of cloth that were his Omega’s armour.

Harry pulled back and just stared for a few seconds at the rows upon rows of buttons that he could see and made another frustrated little noise. He wanted to touch, and kiss, and _explore_ , but there was so much cloth in the way. His fingers flexed in his Omega’s hair, and he forced himself to step back. He would _not_ destroy his Omega’s clothing, just because he wanted him in fewer clothes and _now_.

“What would please you, my Alpha?”

“Robes… off. Jacket, waistcoat, shoes, all off.” Harry rumbled, forcing himself to take another step back.

Severus moved to comply with haste, dropping the robes onto the coat rack, followed deftly by the black jacket, and then the waistcoat was more or less dropped to the floor as Harry’s hands came back to try and help. Severus stumbled a bit as he got the boots off.

Severus followed when Harry led him to the sofa and sank down into it when he was pressed to do so. He blinked when his Alpha all but crawled into his lap to resume kissing, not seeming to care that he was straddling his Omega.

Fingers tangled in his hair, holding him still as his Alpha repeatedly ravaged his mouth, tongue doing wicked things that had his heart thundering. When he was given enough room to gasp for a breath, he took it and then groaned as teeth fastened onto the mark on his neck and lips sealed over it.

That touch had him keening and going limp, even as shame tried to swim through him as he felt himself become damp. He stiffened when his Alpha pulled back abruptly.

“I’m sorry--”

“No. You don’t apologise for that, Omega-Mine. That’s all right.” Severus flushed hotly even as the tension drained from him at his Alpha’s words, “And I didn’t mean to take us this far so fast, little one.” Severus wanted so badly just to reach out and pull his alpha back down on top of him, but right now he didn’t dare, this was all still too new to try something like that.

“You are probably tired, and have House duties that you still need to attend to.” Severus couldn’t help the distressed sound that escaped him, did his Alpha really think that anything was a higher priority to Severus anymore than his pleasure? It made him feel dirty just imagining so. “I missed you, that’s all. I wanted to… well… touch you. And I practically end up molesting you.”

“Alpha,” Severus managed softly as Alpha leaned back, and they both sat up, “I am _yours_ .” He wasn’t sure what else to say; he couldn’t exactly _admit_ that he’d been a nervous wreck and had reduced two Ravenclaws to tears for breathing too loudly when he had been pacing past them while they brewed. He couldn’t _just tell his_ alpha how instantly his touch had chased that stress and tension away and soothed the nerve that had been itching at him since the moment they had parted ways before breakfast. He couldn't say that he wanted this, _it just wasn’t done._

Lifting his hands slowly, he risked placing them on his Alpha’s hips, just resting there, not trying to hold him in any way. He sighed and blinked when his Alpha smiled down at him and then leaned forward to kiss the tip of his nose. He ignored the almost adoring laugh at the way he frowned and wrinkled up his face in confusion at that gesture. If his alpha was happy, he wasn’t going to question too much.

“You like touching me?” Harry asked, and Severus stilled, realising he’d been unconsciously stroking his thumbs against his Alpha’s hips. He started to move his hands away when his Alpha shook his head and smiled, “I like it. Go ahead, Severus.” Harry leaned down and stole another soft kiss, it took all his will to pull away and not deepen it as he let out a hiss of frustration at himself.

“If,” he wasn’t sure how to say this as the memory of the conversation with Neville rang in his ears, _give him boundaries, lists, positive things…_ it was a lot easier as an idea tossed about with Neville than actually said to Severus, “if you want me to stop…” Severus whined under him quietly, “ever,” the words weren’t coming to him like he’d hoped they would, “ I get a bit… I can be a bit…” What had he said the first time with Severus, that he didn’t stop?  “You can stop me,” He managed to grind out, “at any point, you know that don’t you?” Severus was staring at him as if he didn’t understand. “I don’t… I’m not, you’re…” He couldn’t think straight with Severus’s scent all over him, but he couldn’t make himself pull away, “you need to be willing to fight me off--” He winced even as the words slipped from him and Severus’s low snarl filled the sudden silence.

“Alpha, No.” Harry wasn’t sure what he’d triggered, but Severus's grip on his hips had turned painful. “I would not. I am yours.”  

“Just because you are mine does not give me the _right_ to trample all over you!” Harry responded sharply, eyes narrowing as he leaned forward, getting up close and personal in his Omega’s face as the closer he got the more Severus laid back down in the sofa.

“Legally, you have the right to _demand_ whatever you wish of me, Alpha. Because I am yours.”

Harry sighed and leaned back onto his haunches, only just then realising that he had Severus effectively pinned down. “I’ve already had this conversation once, and my answer is the same. _Fuck the law_ . This is our relationship, you want a law, here’s one for you-- my word. And when I say you can tell me ‘No’ then _that’s_ our law. If they don’t like it, _they can go whistle_.”

He reached up and caught a handful of the teen’s shirt in his fists, yanking him close. For a moment Severus was blinded by pure rage, _how dare his alpha just take centuries of tradition and legal processes and dismiss them so blithely?_

“Those _traditions_ you so gleefully trod on keep those like me _safe,_ you little _idiot!  Have you really no clue?”_ it wasn’t an actual question, and Severus’s tone betrayed all too well that he didn’t intend for it to be taken as one.

“Severus… that law could have me demanding your wand from you here, now… I...”

“ _Then take it_ ,” He snarled out, “Because if I can’t trust you, then I have no use for a wand anyway.” Harry blinked, not quite sure what Severus meant.

“Severus? I _wouldn’t_ . Your wand is _yours alone_.” Harry said, voice softening, “I trust you, your judgement has proved sound when my own has been a right mess.”

“My wand has been yours, acted in your defence and interests alone since long before this season.” Severus snapped. “Or have you really been paying so little attention?”

“There’s a difference between fighting on the same side in a war and you literally handing over your wand,” Harry growled, “I’ll turn my wand for anyone, fight and defend them, that’s just human nature to want to help, but handing it over, _without question_? There are maybe three, no, four people I wouldn’t want to kill for even trying to ask....”

Severus blinked.

“Ron, Hermione, Neville… and you.” Severus simply stared. “You four are the only ones that could even dare to _ask_ , and I would put it into your hands. You four are the ones I trust my life with.”

“And yet, _Alpha_ , you would deny me the right to declare the same of you.” He let a beat pass between them.

Harry sighed and dragged a hand over his face. “We always snap at each other. This was so much _easier_ talking to Neville... Okay, look, certain things about the law sicken me, quite literally. Some things after the war and everything, I just can’t accept as legal. Can you get that? I’d never _make_ you give up your wand, Severus.”

Severus knew he shouldn’t say it, but he was still simmering in his anger.

“Nor would you take it if offered, which amounts to the same.” Harry frowned. “You claim one thing and do another, claim to offer freedom and choice and then take it in the same breath. There is a reason these laws exist. _Think_!”

“All I can think of is the fact that Hermione is _right_ and they are treating you like a third class citizen. You --” Harry drew a deep breath and closed this eyes, counting once more to ten in his head. “Severus? I want you _safe_ . I want you _happy_ . And maybe it is me being your Alpha or some kind of Half-Blood bias clouding me right now, but there are certain things I _need_ to say, or I will hate myself for _not.”_

“Then say them.”

“I will never _make_ you give up your wand to me, or anyone else. They will have to go through me first.” Harry paused. “But if they do, or for some reason, I’m not there, I expect you to defend yourself against all comers.” Severus didn’t have an answer, what his alpha was saying was much easier said than done. “You can say no to me, for anything, at any time. If you’re not happy with something, I need to know.” Severus opened his mouth and then closed it. He couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing.

“Alpha,” He started, “you have _rights.”_ He wasn’t sure why they couldn’t communicate past this, what he wasn’t saying or understanding.

“As do _you_ , Severus. As far as I am concerned, these are _unbreakable_ to me. I will _never_ risk your health for my own gratification. That means? You can tell me to back off if I hurt you. It means telling me no when you’re tired or stressed if I’m frisky.” Severus stared.

“That is impossible, illegal, illogical…” He wasn’t having any trouble finding words to describe his Alpha’s stance on this.

“No, it’s not.”

Severus wasn’t sure where this had come from, he’d never heard of the idea before -- even the muggles didn’t think it was fine to just deny a spouse. “You have _conjugal rights_ ,” Severus stressed the words again.

“What?” Harry had only ever heard that word from watching Aunt Petunia’s old black and white films, it sounded dated and dangerous.

“Simply put, if you wish to engage in sexual intercourse with me, you may. I have no _right_ to refuse you, Alpha.”

“Ew!” Harry couldn’t help the reaction as he sat up and flexed his back for a moment. “Is that _really_ a thing? _Why_ is that a thing? _Who came up with that_? It’s insane.”

“I do believe it is enshrined in muggle law also.” Severus offered carefully.

“Uh… actually? _No_? I’m sure I saw cases on the news where wives had their husbands in court.”

“For?” Severus wasn’t sure he heard correctly, he’d heard his mother crying about it and having police officers telling her there was nothing to be done enough times.

“Rape.” Harry’s eyes were cold, and Severus hitched in a breath.

“That is impossible.” It made no sense? _Had the muggles changed the law?_ He’d never heard of such a thing and couldn’t work out the logical path to that conclusion.

“Laws change as society advances, Severus,” Harry said, and Severus’ brow rose, hearing Miss Granger in that statement.

“Not that much, Alpha. This is a pillar of muggle marriages, and grounds for annulment or compensation if neglected.”

“Do you hear yourself?” Harry asked, aghast at what Severus was saying, “you sound like you just stepped out of a… a, a… I can’t even _say ‘_ medieval castle’ because,” he gestured vaguely and Severus bit back an inappropriate smirk, “but, yeah…you know what I mean.” Severus considered and the answer hit him like a bolt from the blue.

“Has it occurred to you, Alpha, that those cases you saw were newsworthy, precisely because the development in the law was recent?” Harry shrugged, it was possible he supposed. “I have had little to no contact with the muggle world in twenty years or more,” Severus pointed out, “it would be a development I was not aware of, and _I assure you_ , our government did not follow suit.” Harry sighed.

“Well I was raised by muggles, and the law also says that I get what I want _apparently_ , so can you accept that?” Severus opened his mouth and then closed it again, hand rising to pinch at the bridge of his nose.

“In this? Neville would back you. _Every_ time. He would go against me, it wouldn’t matter if I were drunk, exhausted, drugged, whatever you can imagine.There’s no excuse for me doing that to you, f _ight me if you have to_.”

“Is that an order, Alpha?” He was only so flippant as fatigue from trying to stay in this conversation and meet his alpha on an equal footing had begun to wear him down. Alpha stared at him for a beat too long, jaw slack at the audacity.

“Yes.” Well, _that settled that then._

“As you wish.” Severus murmured. He watched his Alpha nod once and then he felt the younger man draw a breath and went tense again. Obviously, they were not finished yet. _Joy(!)_

“The last thing, if anything I ask of you puts you, or our offspring in danger, you retain the right of refusal, be that danger mental, emotional, or physical." Alpha was very lucky Severus didn’t have a spontaneous heart attack as the implications of _that_ set in.

“I... you intend that I should..." Severus wasn't sure Alpha had realised the ramifications of what he had just said.

"What?"

"You would even consider the possibility," Severus wasn't sure he'd heard right and was seconds from pinching himself, he'd known his alpha was atypical- _but this?_ "that I might... overrule your word... with your children?" He felt a little dizzy at the prospect.

" _Our_ children, and yes, If I make the wrong call, of course. You've had _how_ much more experience with kids than _either_ of us?"

Severus wisely chose not to point out that until very recently his track record with children had been nothing but a horror show of his own making.

“Severus? You’ve been through situations where Neville and I? Have only ever seen it from one side. You have twenty years on us. You have experience where we lack it, and that can only be a benefit to our children.” Severus jerked when a hand trailed down his face, cupping his cheek. He closed his eyes for a moment and just leaned into the touch.

“I have watched, so many children suffer…” it had burned and shattered him to see those children forged in war and hardened beyond their years, every harsh word he’d ever uttered when he’d wanted to protect them and himself had caught in his throat and replayed a thousand times in his memories.

“And how many of us survived… because you made _certain,_ we would?” Harry asked, and Severus opened his eyes. “Neville lived long enough to be here for both of us because you made sure he survived. So many students owe you their lives, Severus. And there are at least two of us, that will never forget it.”

Harry suddenly smirked, “What would happen if I got up from here, walked into Slytherin Common and announced you were my bonded Omega to the room at large? How many of _your_ students would try to kill me outright?”

Severus bit back a harsh retort and then realised that he didn’t actually have a rebuttal.

“A Gryffindor, in _Slytherin Common Room_ , even you, Alpha, would be lucky for the opportunity to speak.” He pointed out, and Harry laughed aloud.

“I’m not talking about the initial, wand to hand, I would get as a Lion in Snake Territory. No, I’m asking, after that sentence set in… how many of your Snakes would try-- out of loyalty to _you_?”

Severus really rather hoped Alpha didn't intend to test this theory, he wasn't sure he wanted to know the actual answer. He knew exactly how his majority-pureblood students would react to knowing someone had claimed him, what they would think, then it being _Potter_ of all people… especially with their history, they would assume Severus needed to be rescued, and they wouldn’t wait to do it. He shuddered.

They would react how he had for twenty years every time one of his Omega students dropped out of their NEWT classes unexpectedly or appeared bruised and bloodied in the hospital wing pretending like they wanted that kind of life. It wasn’t just for himself that he’d put over-zealous Alphas in their place over the years.

“Now… how many in the other Houses would do the same? There’s Luna, then just, the whole of the DA would be behind you so fast after how you protected them- they’re loyal like that… and you saw what happened with Malfoy, he was ready to tear my head off for touching you and, for Ron, I more than returned the sentiment.”

“Alpha males and your posturing!” Severus quipped, he’d been beside himself at the time but he had to admit, a pair of teenage boys acting like middle-aged men with teenage daughters was amusing in hindsight.

“And I don’t want to imagine what McGonagall would do to me,” Severus winced in sympathy, “that cat’s got _claws_!”

“As I am well aware, Alpha.”

So we agree then? If and when we have children, you’re not just their bearer, you’re their parent. And parents disagree. It’s inevitable really.” Severus made himself nod to save another round of heated discussion, “ _especially when I want to buy them racing brooms_!” Severus suddenly felt lightheaded at the thought of his Alpha’s children, children he’d carried, forty feet up with nothing but a charmed stick to keep them there. He managed a weak laugh, his voice was hoarse when he spoke.

“Over my dead body, Potter.” Alpha’s uproarious laughter at the remark made the risk worth it.

“We’ll come back to it when they are old enough, all right?”

“When they’re thirty, married and have ample life insurance coverage after quidditch pitches with trampoline floors have been invented… _maybe_.” He glared. “Why are you laughing, I am deadly serious!” He scrunched up his face when his Alpha once more kissed him on the nose and then climbed from his lap.

“Oh, Severus, _don’t ever change_!” Severus pulled a cushion out from under him and launched it into his Alpha’s abdomen in response.

“ _As if_ , Potter!” It didn’t stop Alpha laughing, and Severus caught himself joining in. It felt good, for the first time in a long time, to be able to let his guard down a little and relax with someone else.

-

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Historical note: In the UK the concept of 'conjugal rights' as an exception to laws on rape was not overturned until 1991 in the case of R. v. R


	16. Chapter 16

_Dear Madame Longbottom,_

_Please excuse the disgraceful delay in my writing to you regarding your grandson and his role in my life. I assure you I meant no disrespect, and although he has indicated that the morning paper yesterday did not catch you entirely unaware, I fully accept that there was no excuse for my failure to open communication until now. Your grandson has been a light in my life in these last few weeks that I had never before dared hope to find and though it is too late to formally ask your permission to enter a relationship with him, for his sake and mine I humbly request your blessing on our joining._

_You’re his only family, and I love him. He’ll have told you I’m not exactly the traditional sort, but I’m willing to try to give him something like a respectable position. Please, I don’t do formality well, and I know my ignorance isn’t a defence, but he needs you in his life, don’t make him choose. I don’t think I could stand to lose him. He doesn’t know I’ve written this and even if you ignore it I’d ask you don’t tell him, you know better than anyone he’d be mortified- but I had to try. If I haven’t completely alienated you, I think it’s traditional to meet a partner’s family somewhere semi-public and neutral in the first instance. I’d be honoured and indebted to you if you would choose a suitable establishment for any date that is convenient for yourself (before the new year) and place the booking in my name for a table for four, including yourself, plus anyone else you feel it appropriate to invite. Please then forward the details Griphook at Gringotts to have the costs charged to my personal vault._

_Humbly yours,_

_H Potter._

 

 

Harry must have gone through half a mile of parchment drafting it and read the letter back to himself a hundred times or more before he could read it without cringing. Neville was going to kill him, but he’d seen how happy his beta was when he’d come back today he’d known he had to do something.

Severus had busied himself with marking student essays and done his best to ignore the overwhelming scent of stress from his alpha. After their conversation earlier Severus had no intention of speaking again until he was called to, he needed the time to recover himself mentally from the effort it had taken to stay present in that conversation and actually contribute to it.

“Severus?”

“Yes alpha?” He corrected a misspelt word absently.

“Is there anyone you’d like me to contact, family or friends?” Severus’s first thought was of Lucius, but he quashed it ruthlessly. That would not be appropriate with the man still under house arrest.

“No one it would be appropriate to contact at this time.” Severus almost thought he’d got away with it and then alpha frowned at him after a moment of careful consideration.

“Why don’t you tell me who you’d like me to contact, and let me decide if it's appropriate?” Severus almost wanted to say no, to say that his alpha was far too reckless to be seen communicating with a known convicted former death eater who hadn’t been cleared of charges for extenuating circumstances. He didn’t have the energy to argue and so set down the essay he was marking after scrawling a hasty ‘see me.’ On the bottom. Alpha was staring at him, and despite himself, it was making him nervous.

“There is only one person who might possibly care who you have not already spoken to,” he started to say slowly, coolly, with as little inflexion as he could manage. Alpha took on a politely puzzled look, and Severus almost threw an inkwell at him just to see if he would blink. “It is not appropriate for you to be corresponding with Lucius Malfoy, Alpha.”

“If you consider him a friend, despite everything, then it’s entirely appropriate.” Severus refrained from rolling his eyes, barely. He sighed instead.

“Lucius was the sole reason it took so long before I sought the headmaster’s protection when you were a child.” How they had thought an Omega could watch those kinds of atrocities and not be turned from them was a mystery he had never understood. They had killed enough over the years as traitors to see the pattern and yet despite his gender being an open secret, it was the one thing that had never been used as justification to suspect him.

“I’ll figure something out,” Harry said, and Severus blinked. “Just er, don’t expect me to go to his manor anytime soon.” Severus considered for a moment and then nodded.

“I highly doubt he will live there much longer either, Alpha.” Even an ancestral home wasn’t immune to being stained by traumatic memories, and Lucius was not as sentimental as people assumed about his Great grandfather’s home when he was perfectly capable of taking the family portraits with him.

-

“Why am I really not looking forward to this lesson?” Harry asked wryly as he flung his copy of Advanced Potions Making into his bag haphazardly. Neville sighed and fixed him with a knowing look as he pulled on his gloves for the trek down to the greenhouses and his Herbology lesson. “Don’t answer that.” He glanced over at Severus who was collecting paperwork and checking last minute details- he seemed nervous as he flitted around the room as if searching for something, anything, to do.

“Just go to the class, ignore each other, don’t blow yourself up,” Harry managed a weak laugh, “and I’ll see you Sunday night.” He’d finally managed to make Harry agree that a day or so alone with Severus was best for all of them.

“I’m going to take Denis’ seat again, just to hammer the message home with that idiot if he tries anything.” And keep me out of the front row, so Severus has a better chance of getting through the next two hours unscathed too- went unsaid.

Finally, Severus stopped fussing, and Harry and Neville exchanged amused glances but said nothing. Harry frowned when he saw that Severus had changed his clothes. Instead of the usual high collared black or navy shirt worn under the waistcoat and he had forgone the jacket altogether and left the cravat behind, his neck wasn’t exposed exactly, but he did not have the usual three layers of spelt fabric protection either. Harry crossed the room and put a steadying hand on Severus’s shoulder.

“Is this,” he flicked the open collar slightly, “is this safe?” Severus flushed. He’d been wearing the same robes for years, and the spells were so worn they it probably made no difference, but he wasn’t about to say that.

“As safe as anything else alpha,” he murmured softly instead, “you disapprove?” Harry caught the catch in Severus’s voice and glanced over at Neville who nodded encouragingly at him.

“No, I--“ Severus let out a low breath, “Why the change?” The heat pooled in his cheeks almost instantly.

“The classroom is stifling with the high heat required today,” Harry raised a disbelieving eyebrow but nodded anyway, if Severus was still feeling unsafe he wasn’t going to push right before a two hour lesson in which they both needed to be focused, “and,” Severus bit out and Harry softened his glance as he returned his gaze to the Potions Master, “you seem to prefer… less.” His voice was so low that Harry wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly. His breath caught in his throat. It hadn’t occurred to him that Severus would take that kind of risk just to please him.

“Not when you’re teaching a NEWT class with idiots like me in it.” Harry managed to keep his voice light. “Because there has to be a reason seventh years need spelled hide lined clothes for potions, which means you do too.”

Severus wouldn’t look at him, he got the impression his alpha might not be too impressed that he was still wearing the same robes he’d bought from the school application for the hardship fund when he’d been a student. They were expensive even second hand and only meticulous attention to keeping them maintained over the years had kept them presentable. Lucius had quietly gifted him teaching robes when he’d taken the job at Hogwarts knowing full well that the school salary did not stretch that far. The Dark Lord somehow produced another set that he’d promptly burned out of principle with his old Death Eater robes when there was no excuse to have to wear _the damn things_. He’d been saving for some new ones with a less severe and outdated cut, but with a starting price of ten thousand galleons a set he would have needed another few years yet to begin even thinking about it.

“If you would prefer my typical robes --”

“Will they keep you safe?”

Severus hesitated, the spells were good enough without Longbottom in the classroom, and he watched the Alpha narrow his eyes. “They are adequate to the task.”

“Even in the older cut… I think they are Monsevignon?” Neville said, picturing the robes for a moment. At Severus’ hesitant nod, Neville relaxed, while Harry still looked clueless.

“They are one of the best combat and duelist specialist robemakers out there, Harr. The gloves I use for Herbology are theirs. And the Potions gloves I got you going into this year.”

Severus swallowed sharply, knowing exactly how much those gloves had cost. He had been eyeing a pair for three years but was still making do with a set that Lucius had gifted him two years before he had managed to make his Mastery.

“That would explain why your knife handling and preparation has improved, Alpha. Monsevignon’s quality is well known for the potioneer also, and they allow for delicate and precise movements while wearing them.”

“They are comfortable too. My old herbology gloves? I ended up using them gardening for my Aunt. Even nettle doesn’t phase dragonhide.”

“Nor do most potions. However, today is Catalysts. I do expect at least one or two small explosions.” Severus smirked.”If the students are capable.”

“Eh?”

Holding back a sigh, Severus pinched the bridge of his nose. “Alpha, if you had done the reading, you would realise we are going to be handling potions and ingredients that need a heat-based catalyst to produce the correct reaction… or did you not bother to do the reading?”

“Potions that need an outside force or source to transmute from one stage to another?” Harry asked, and Severus nodded once. “I did the reading, yes. But nothing sounded too weird. It's just applying heat to get the cauldron to bubble, like baking a cake, right?”

“Ovens do not tend to explode when grandmother puts in a batch of buns.” Severus intoned softly and noted his Alpha’s concerned look, he wasn’t sure he’d made his point, his entire experience with baked good was eating whatever the elves put in front of him. “These potions require a controlled explosion, but teenagers are rarely known for their subtlety…” Harry stiffened at the thought of deliberately blowing up a cauldron, “most are heavy-handed, club fingered apes.” Harry snorted. “Poppy already knows to have beds free this weekend.” Harry’s mirth disappeared in a second, this wasn’t funny anymore. He glanced down at the robes Severus was wearing and slipped his finger into the front, holding the lapel between his finger and thumb

“These robes are barely lined, no way they’re safe.”

“Dragonhide is not thick, Alpha,” Harry knew that he also knew that there was a difference between deliberately thin and worn down,.“It is adequate,” Harry exchanged looks with Neville, who shrugged, neither wanted to argue with Severus over potions because they knew they would lose, but Harry still wasn't convinced. 

“Is the waistcoat charmed as well?” Severus nodded.

“At least wear that then, and something on your neck, I dread to think what stray potions will do if it hits you there.” Harry commented, “especially to scar tissue.”

“Yes Alpha.” as Severus disappeared into the bedroom Harry glanced at his beta nervously, and Neville gave him a small smile.

“Yeah, Har, just like that and you’ll be fine.” Harry let out a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding.

“Thanks, Nev. Do you know these Mont-whatever people? Can we get him in for a fitting with them over the Christmas hols?” Harry asked. Neville shrugged.

“Usually a three month wait for a fitting, but tell them it’s for him and that might go down a bit, book it in your name and it might go down a bit more.” Harry considered it for a moment. "Seal it with my House Emblem.... and they will schedule late to get us in."

“Er?”

“My grandmother is one of their daughter's godmothers, apparently the French value that more than we do and Monica is a good friend, she’ll twist her Papa’s arm for a day to play catch up while he works on the order.”

“ _Not what you know_...” Harry muttered quietly, and Neville nodded.

“Exactly.”

“Alright.” Harry agreed quickly. “Let's book him in for six sets of dailies.” Neville blinked, that was more than the tailor usually made in a month.

“Six?”

“Five days a week teaching plus a spare set, why?”

“Harry these things run at ten grand a set for the basic models, and I know the minute you see the options he’s got for safety and lining that’s going to treble.”

“Mixy!!” Harry called to open air. He only smiled when the little elf popped into being and passed over a portfolio in Slytherin green leather. He nodded once to the elf, and she popped away. He began flipping through various bits of parchment, shaking his head at one or nodding at another. He plucked three loose and passed them across to Neville.

 “I think if I route the bonus I’m getting from that and combine the dividends and interest from,” he handed over two more pages,” those two, and top off with the Cleansweep merger sweetener we can cover that, and some for you as well.”

“Me?”

“You said you use these gloves for herbology? Which means you’ll need the robes for next year.” Neville flushed furiously, he’d accepted Pomona’s offer to stay on and apprentice months ago and promptly forgotten about it in all but vague terms since then.

“Harry I don’t need-”

“If you’re apprenticing you’ll be teaching younger years at least twice a week, that's two sets, and at least two more sets of work robes for days you’re actually planting and not writing up. You forget I’ve seen what they keep in greenhouse five.” Neville winced and then nodded, Devil’s Snare was kept in greenhouse four, and he made a point of not even going in _there_ without his wand out. 

“Still Harry…” He tried and harry fixed him with a glare.

“I am your Alpha, it’s my duty to provide for you, don't argue with me.” Neither of them noticed Severus fiddling with buttons on the waistcoat in the doorway.

“Actually --” Neville started to say.

“No. You are mine.” Harry growled out. “I don’t take risks with my family to save a few bits of gold, you’re something special with plants, and if you need the kit, then you need it, non-negotiable.” He softened when Neville sighed defeatedly and nodded. “Will you write to them then? Book in for both of you, full ensemble, robes, gloves, boots -everything you need..” He caught the sharp intake of breath from Severus and glanced up questioningly. “And book me in for the summer, I can make do with my school stuff for now, but I need to check if I need any speciality stuff with Ollivander.” They were both staring at him.

“Harry, you realise you’re going to end up dropping close on a quarter of a million galleons if you put that order through?” Harry gestured at the papers Neville was still holding.

“Oh right, I thought it would be more than that the way you were talking...might not need to use the Cleansweep profits after all then, good, I had other plans for those anyway.” Neville rolled his eyes affectionately and shook his head.

“Only you would wave off that kind of spend on work robes.” He commented, and Harry snorted.

“I grew up in hand me downs and charity shop rags, trust me I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy,” Harry paused and shrugged, “which is really ironic.” Neville tilted his head in question.

“Old snake face grew up in a muggle orphanage, nothing new until he came here and even then hardship fund doesn’t cover new everything.”

“Oh.”

“Nev,” Harry’s tone turned serious, and his beta stiffened, “you too, Severus, I need you both to trust me and let yourselves rely on me. I swear I won’t let you down.” Severus hadn’t said a word, but there was something unreadable in his expression. “I promised myself that no one in my family would want for anything I could provide, ok?” Neville slumped and nodded.

“You realise Gran is going to go nuts that I let you pay for it all?”

“Well then she should have provided for you properly, and I wouldn’t have to be kitting you out from the bottom up!” Harry snapped and then frowned, he wasn’t sure where the momentary aggression had come from. “Sorry, I have no idea what that was.”

“Your instincts are really warped, Har,” Neville muttered as he waved off the aggression, “you don’t have to provide anything for me, I’m not the one whose entire life depends on your goodwill.”

“That would be me, and I too would state my concern at the spending of that kind of money on clothing, Alpha.” Severus murmured softly, and Harry sighed.

“I haven’t even started yet.” Harry sniped, he really didn’t know why this conversation was making him tense, and it was irritating him even more that he didn’t. “Remind me to show you all our holdings at some point, trust me, we can afford it.” Severus blinked.

“You, Alpha.” Harry stared.

“We, Omega.” Harry stared coolly, Severus looked fit to argue, but Neville cleared his throat warningly. “Look, we’re going to be late for that class if I go into it now, just think of it this way, I signed over eighty thousand galleons a month income to charity yesterday on principle, and we won’t miss it. I respect the pair of you too much to just keep you like this is some Victorian household, but our living expenses barely make a dent in the profits the Potter holdings alone draw in- nevermind the pies Sirius’s family had their fingers in.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair at their staring. “I only draw from different things to keep everything floating and equal. If you want something, then buy it, if your card won’t cover it use the silver key as a guarantee and buy it anyway. That’s what it’s for!”

Neville and Severus exchanged glances as if trying to gauge if Harry had lost his mind or not. “And if you don’t I will,” Harry added pointedly. “Birthdays, Christmas, every major religion in the world has gift-giving holidays- I could be Jewish or whatever for the day if you really want an excuse…” he hadn’t meant to be funny, but Severus snorted amusedly.

“You wouldn’t.” Neville looked horrified.

“I would, you know I would. Not that I should need an excuse to look after my family.”

“We should leave and discuss this another time, gentlemen.” Severus cut in smoothly as he indicated the clock on the wall.

-

 

They got so close to making it through unscathed despite the occasional minor explosion in the classroom. Harry had got there a few minutes before Severus and taken Denis’ seat- the young omega had been ecstatic to see him and had swapped without question. Harry had caught himself smiling and assuring Denis that Professor Snape was okay; that no one was going to blame him for taking yesterday off his classes to rest with the heat overtaking him -and, yes, he agreed that they were all probably looking forward to the end of the season and the return of normality to Hogwarts.

The first explosion went off almost without a hitch until Severus snarled at the Hufflepuff boy three rows behind Harry that if he wanted to kill them, he shouldn’t bother wasting so many porcupine quills next time. Harry made a point of double checking how many he had on his workbench compared to the recipe and tried not to worry too much that Severus had sustained an almost green coloured stain on his robe sleeve. He wasn’t even sure how black could stain green.

The next two (Hufflepuff) received a nod, a wave to carry on and ten house points apiece from Severus without anyone being reduced to tears or worse and Harry let himself relax. He had no idea how Severus was masking his scent so effectively right now, but he wasn’t about to question it. He cut out a block of potassium on his workbench and cast a simple shield charm over it to make sure nothing got it wet until he was ready as the potion stabilised and cooled in his cauldron. Three desks away a bang was accompanied by a scream and was followed by the sound of pewter shattering against stone. Harry glanced up in time to see Severus helping a Ravenclaw girl to her feet, remove his gloves and then an iron filing that had embedded in the side of his wrist that the glove wasn’t long enough to cover it and he had flung it up to protect his face.

Harry almost threw caution to the wind and crossed the classroom to check on his omega, but a sharp glance and a tight nod from Severus held him in his place. It was a good job too, or he would have overcooked and melted his own iron filings once the potion had reduced down enough that he could see the inside walls of his cauldron from above it.

Harry shifted and nudged Ginny in the back as he moved around his desk to get a better angle for the next step. He moved just in time to see the flash of blue and smoke rising from the back row. The boy was coughing hard, and Severus had already cast a spell to contain the fumes as he hurried the boy and his bench partner away from it. Once they had stopped choking he snarled something about a zero for the class because ‘do tell me Mister Age exactly where in the textbook or instructions you were told to add ammonia to this same potion you added lye to less than ten minutes ago?’ Harry wasn’t sure how much more of this his nerves could take before he tore the throat out of the next idiot who made such a simple cock-up and put his omega at risk.

He took a breath and forced himself to take up the damp cloth and use it to stick small amounts of saltpetre just under the rim of his cauldron when Denis tapped him on the shoulder and pointed at Ginny.

“I’m about the add the banana stuff, cover me?” She asked, and he nodded drawing his wand and stepping back, so he had a decent chance of casting before he was knocked off his feet if the explosion was too strong. He didn’t notice Severus appear at his sleeve until Ginny had dropped the small cube into the potion and cast her own shield charm over it. He waited less than three seconds before the cauldron jumped on its stand and turned purple. Ginny let out a breath and Harry pocketed his wand. Severus’s eyebrow jumped.

“Take Ten points, Miss Weasley, next time, a drop more quicksilver would speed up the explosion.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you.” Harry let out a breath and exchanged a relieved look with Ginny.

“Return the favour for me?” He asked, and she nodded as he cast a drying and cleansing charm on his gloves and picked up the potassium in his left hand, wand held steady and ready to cast in the other.

He didn’t get chance to do anything before someone yelled out, “get down!” And the room shook with the force of the blast. He was aware of pulling Denis and Ginny to their knees to use the desk like some kind of cover and hearing a second small explosion that was probably the idiot’s desk partner. When there weren’t anymore, he jumped to his feet and promptly clapped a hand over his mouth. The smoke was thick, acrid and burned.

“What the-?” He wasn’t the only one questioning what had happened as his eyes streamed. A hand on his arm stopped him craning his neck trying to see how close or where Severus had been.

“Harry stay low, the air is clearer down here.” Ginny hissed out as she pulled Denis closer and Harry glanced between them suspiciously. Ginny fixed him with an almost beseeching look as Denis clung to her.

“Take care of him,” Harry told her, and he didn’t just mean right here and now as he turned to fight his way through the smoke.

“I will Harry, I promise.” He squeezed her arm and moved away.

Harry wasn’t sure how he made it through the classroom unscathed to Severus’s side. The professor had been blown backwards and soaked in potion that was still bubbling on his robes. He’d managed to pull the girl out of the way and was leaning against a wall gasping for breath.

“Those near a window-“ he coughed as he called out, “or door open it now.” Harry let out a relieved breath that Severus was coherent and promptly choked when he breathed in.

“Your robes are smouldering!” Harry gasped out, “they need- off!” He managed. “What happene-?” He didn’t have enough air in his lungs to finish the question as he choked again, the atmosphere was clearing too slowly. Severus raised his wand and pointed it at Harry, and suddenly he could breathe again. It took him a second to realise and his stomach to settle. Bubblehead charm. He jumped forward and grabbed at Severus's cloak, helping him out of it without a word as the Professor cast the charm on himself and the other students nearest to them followed suit. Severus’s waistcoat and shirt were somehow soaked as well but seemed to have stayed in one piece.

“What did we just breathe in?” Harry muttered quietly where he was holding Severus up against the wall, whatever it was his Omega had not reacted well to it, and it had weakened him. Severus was rubbing his throat trying to clear the ache, the muscles had been working overtime in there and pulled the too tight scar tissue over his windpipe.

“The sulphur,” Severus murmured quietly and cast his eyes aside when Harry fixed him with a concerned look. “Lovegood.” He said suddenly, and Harry frowned. He didn’t get chance to ask.

“Professor, Luna’s unconscious!” Harry wasn’t sure what he’d missed. Severus shoved past him towards Ginny’s voice. Harry glanced around as the smoke cleared and people started standing up. From the pattern of damage, it was entirely obvious who had caused the explosion. Harry was distracted by the sound of Luna vomiting spectacularly. He only needed to look once to realise that either Ginny or Severus or both, had managed to wake her and force enough charcoal into her to ensure it would either absorb whatever she’d reacted to or force her body to reject all of it.

Craven looked like he’d gone into shock as he stood by what was left of his workbench. Harry hadn't paid attention to him or the fact that he had been sitting in the back row for the last few weeks to distance himself from Denis.

“It would be you!” Harry snarled. “What did you do?” Craven stared at him blankly for a few seconds and then blinked.

“Over reduced the potion, too much saltpetre,” He uttered monotonously staring at the spot of the wall where Severus had been leaning.

“Oi!” Harry yelled out, and when Craven didn’t flinch or glance at him, he snarled and lashed out, slapping Craven hard. The boy jumped and yelled at him, glaring angrily even as he clapped a hand to his cheek. After a few seconds, all the anger seemed to leave him. “You’re welcome,” Harry told him pointedly.

“He pulled me out of the way…” Craven said, almost awestruck.

“Duh! He’s the Professor, you don’t actually think he’s going to let you kill yourself in his classroom, do you?” Craven blinked.

“No, he,” Craven was frowning at the spot Severus had occupied thoughtfully, “he took the blast, but I swear for a second…” the young man glanced at Harry, eyes all worry and concern.

“What?” Harry demanded impatiently.

“He’s-“ Craven said, “I thought he was like us.” He indicated between them and Harry’s heart stopped. “But… I swear just for a second.” Harry grabbed the teen and yanked him towards the door, no one was looking at them as everyone had busied themselves checking their workstations and each other for damage.

As soon as they were out the door, Craven surprised Harry by casting the privacy charms himself.

“Potter, I think he’s being forced to work.” Harry blinked. “We have to do something.”

“Wait, slow down, what do you mean?” Even though he’d bubbled them in privacy Craven still leaned towards Harry.

“He’s an Omega Potter, I'll stake my life on it, and I know you know.” Harry stared impassively, “that’s why you got to him so quick, isn’t it? When you realised it was me who’d been hit, you were trying to protect him.” Harry wasn’t sure how to answer.

“Ok, you’ve lost me, what exactly has his gender got to do with you saying he’s being forced to work?” Craven stared at him in shock for a few seconds.

“No way an omega gets to his age unbonded and he’s still working, besides you, can smell bonding on him,” Harry kept his expression carefully blank, “his alpha must be a real piece of work.”

“Why?” Craven sighed at him impatiently.

“Because there’s no such thing as an omega who wants to work, Potter, it breaks every instinct they’ve got. They live to breed and to serve their alpha’s needs, that’s it.”

“Make them sound like house elves!” Harry couldn’t keep the disgust from his tone.

“Damn it. It’s bred in! It’s what they are. They should no more be forced to work than a wizard stripped of his wand. Poor bastard, if he’s working, then Merlin only knows what his alpha is doing to him in the background.” Craven paused. “Listen I know you don’t like me, and I don’t much like you, but Snape kept most of us alive, we owe him enough not to watch him be used for slave labour and an extra income by some prick who clearly doesn’t feed him or let him sleep.” Harry felt sick at hearing this. No wonder they had all been surprised that Harry had agreed to Severus working so quickly if this was what they thought. “You fought with him, he respects you. You need to do something.”

“Whoa Wait? What?”

“If I say anything to him he’ll probably just brush me off, give me detention for impertinence, and I won’t be able to help- but he might just answer to you, with your history. You could take on pretty much anyone for him if you had good enough reason, but you have to move now before the season ends.” Harry blinked rapidly.

“Are you seriously suggesting that I try and lay claim to him.”

“You’ve got till Monday to get him away from whichever bastard is abusing him, or I will.” Harry stared.

“Even if I get myself killed trying, which let’s be honest is a real possibility.” Craven turned to walk away.

“Oi,” Harry called out. “What happened?” Craven turned and shrugged.

“You were right about the Creevey boy, too skittish for me anyway. Gave me the chance to do a lot of thinking about who and what I am.” Harry didn’t quite believe it. “My parents are a bonded pair, Potter, they’d have both been horrified that I did that to the poor kid.”

Behind them, the classroom door opened and students were filling out, Harry glanced at his watch questioningly, and Ginny called out to him.

“Harry, you need to go in get your stuff, Snape cut us loose- decided he didn’t want any more injuries.” Craven was staring at him significantly and nodding towards the door. Harry nodded back and slipped through it without another word once he’d thanked Ginny for telling him.

-

Harry pointedly closed the door behind himself before crossing the classroom to Severus’s side. The Potions Master looked exhausted as he picked absently at his sleeve and winced where he could feel the skin was mildly irritated below.

“Severus?” The man looked up at him, his expression one of complete loss for a moment and Harry touched his cheek gently.

“Alpha.. I…” Harry smiled softly and kissed him softly.

“Are you ok?” Harry asked lightly, and Severus actually shrugged, it as such an odd mannerism on the Omega that Harry wasn’t sure what to say. “You took two or three strong blasts in here, physically, how are you?” Harry clarified softly, he could see that Severus was beating himself up about something and with the conversation with Craven ringing in his ears, Harry had an excellent idea what that might have been.

“Fair,” He commented, “The robes will clean, and the shirt is not damaged,”

“I asked about you, not your clothes.” Harry cut in as he took Severus’s arm and pushed up the sleeve carefully. Severus winced, and Harry fixed him with a look.

“Mildly irritated, nothing a cooling balm won’t heal,” Severus muttered. “Craven is lucky he miscalculated the lye, or this could have very well have been his own face permanently scarred,” Severus commented clinically.

“Do you have it in your quarters?” Severus stiffened over something but nodded, Harry made himself refrain from asking, “alright, I’ll walk back with you.” Severus stared at him.

“Alpha, that would not be…” Severus seemed to be looking for a polite way to tell Harry that he was risking seeing the photograph on the Saturday morning front page.

“Craven caught your scent when you pushed him out the way,” Severus swore softly to himself, “he thinks I got to you so fast because I was scared he would panic and go for you.” Harry considered it. “If I had I think exploded cauldron would be the least of his worries.”

“Of course, you would defend your claim, Alpha.”

Harry chuckled, “I would, but I doubt there would be much left for me to handle after he tangled with _you_ , Omega-Mine.”

“I am rather surprised he refrained from commenting.” Severus murmured as he flexed his arm to test the range of movement.

“He didn’t, but he knows better than to tangle with you.” Severus almost smiled. “I might not be so lucky once the lists are published though,” Harry commented darkly, and Severus frowned at him as they both absently collected their things.

“Alpha?” Severus asked, voice wary.

“He knows you are bonded, Severus. He thinks the worst of me, not knowing who you are bonded to. He thinks I’m forcing you to work. And?” Here Harry’s smile almost became a smirk, “He wants me to do something about it. He’s advocating I claim you.”

Severus smirked back and shook his head. “And Mr Craven would consider your absence proof that you took up his suggestion?”

“Or you savaged me so badly I landed in the Hospital Wing… again.” Severus half smiled and then winced when his shoulder pulled as he stood. “In his own words, he expects me to go up against whoever isn’t feeding you before the season is over.” Severus wasn’t used to students being protective of him or even really care for him at all and the news that there was one, especially a Gryffindor, who did sent his eyebrows skywards in surprise.

“And you agreed?”

“If I weren’t already yours? I would have.” Harry agreed.

“There is absolutely nothing amiss in my eating habits,” Severus responded sharply. Without a word Harry wrapped his hand around his omega’s wrist, pointedly glancing down at his forefinger and thumb touching.

“You are thinner than a man your height should be, Severus. There is no reason to restrict yourself unless the entire table is nubby vegetables.” Harry said, and he watched his Omega manage a small smirk, even as those dark eyes became troubled and his gaze dropped into quiet submission.

”What?”

“As you command, Alpha.” Severus murmured and then paused when Harry pushed the door to the classroom closed again and spun to face the dark-clad professor. He knew his face was set in a displeased frown but still blinked in shock when Severus flinched back and sank to his knees.

“Severus?” Harry managed to keep his voice steady, but true shock was eating through him… he never dreamed his Omega would…

“As you command. Forgive me, I shall do better.” Severus said, voice soft, head down. Harry took a step forward and then froze when he watched his Omega flinch again, shoulders rounding as though to absorb a blow.

“On your feet, Omega.” Harry snapped, realising he had to ‘step up’ as Neville had been telling him. Severus obeyed at once but kept his head down.

“Should you have been on nutrient potions?”

“Yes, Alpha.” It didn’t even occur to Severus to lie or attempt to avoid the truth. Not to his Alpha, and not when he’d asked directly.

“Why haven’t you been?”

“With my duties between teaching, being Headmaster and bowing before the Dark Lord, my resources were stretched too thin, and the students needed them far more than I did.”

“Voldemort was killed nearly eighteen months ago, what’s stopped you since then?” He ignored the way Severus flinched at the name if he could get Neville used to saying and using it occasionally then Severus would have to learn that the bastard was dead and staying that way too. It was something of a sticky issue with Harry when he came across people who were still afraid like that.

“Helping Minerva with the transition, dealing with the rebuilding of the school and… healing, Alpha.” A hand lifted towards his throat and then fell away before making it even a third of the way up.

“And now?” Harry challenged, voice tight.

“If it is your will, I shall begin a regimen. Though, it may make me irritable and lethargic.” Harry managed a small laugh as he tried to ease the tension.

“So normal then?” He quipped softly, and Severus winced.

“Hey,” he murmured quietly and slipped a hand under Severus’s chin to make him look up, “I want you healthy, so if you need potions, then you need them. Do you have time to brew them or should we order in?”

Severus pulled a face, he really would have had to be dying to partake of any other potions master’s brews- it was a matter of professional pride.

“Ok, but I do actually expect you to take them, and eat with them properly,” Harry added, after the regimen Poppy had put him on last year he knew exactly what taking those things on an empty stomach did, and it wasn’t pretty. “Nev’s taking nerve potion, for the tremors, I’m not stupid enough to have to ask if you need that,” Harry commented.

“As you wish.” Severus murmured, lip curling in disgust, even as a dazed look trickled into his eyes.

“Omega-Mine? I care about you. And obviously, others in this school care about you as well. I fully expect there to be a legion out for my head if you are not in better shape before the spring season.”

Severus snorted in shock. Harry met his gaze squarely, “And if I fail at this? They’d have every right to do so.”

“There are those who would judge you harshly for allowing…” Severus almost didn’t want to say it and couldn’t quite work out why he was arguing, “such overindulgence that it became physically visible.”

“I don’t care what they think,” Harry really didn't, “I need you healthy, for my own sanity and because I’m sick of watching you put everyone else before your own basic needs.” Severus almost quipped that his Alpha might not be poorly served by taking a dose of his own potion.

“Can we just blame Beta when we both gain weight? For it will be him feeding us at every opportunity he can manage.”

“He’ll wear it like a badge of honour.” Harry pointed out, and Severus flushed. “It’s some sort of weird pride thing he’s got whenever i, and I expect it’ll extend to you, do something he suggested because it's good for me.”

“It… may be prudent to involve Poppet- Poppy in this. In case I become injured in some way while teaching, between the nerve restorative and the nutrient potions, they can interact with certain painkillers and other typical prescriptions.” Harry frowned, if Severus was so tired he was mispronouncing words then it was time to wrap this up and head back to his quarters for an early night and quickly.

“I know, when I was on them, I ended up sleepwalking.” Harry shuddered. “Woke up one night top of the astronomy tower just after we rebuild it and I’d stayed for the night on the builders camp.” There had been so many things wrong with waking up there, of all places, that Harry had tried to refuse the nutrient potions for several days until the lack of them had weakened him so much that he hadn’t been able to levitate even the lightest furniture. He’d been lucky Poppy had kept a record of his potions and realised what had happened. Without her, his protestations to Pye that if he’d wanted to kill himself that he wasn’t arrogant enough to throw himself off that tower would have possibly fallen on deaf ears.

“It may also affect libido, Alpha.” Severus shifted uncomfortably and looked away.

“Nothing you aren’t comfortable with, Omega.” Harry reiterated. Severus nodded reflexively. He’d noticed how quickly those words seemed to have become something of a mantra and how quickly he’d learned to simply relax into them and accept them from his Alpha and their Beta. “Speaking of, time to head back, you’re exhausted…” Harry told him firmly, and Severus stilled then nodded obediently, “and I think in more pain than you’re letting on.” Severus didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. His arm had gone from slightly pink to angry red in minutes.

“Alpha,” the word slipped from him as he stared at the injury in shock, not quite believing what he was seeing- there was nothing in that potion that should be making his arm burn like that. He hadn’t realised how lightheaded he was feeling until it occurred to him to begin mentally cataloguing his symptoms for Poppy like he always did when he went to her with an injury. Harry’s eyes narrowed.

“What is it?” Alpha touched his arm, and Severus winced, he couldn’t help it _, that hurt_! He felt Alpha stiffen and heard him say something but he wasn’t paying attention as he tried to make his wand produce a stream of cold water. He couldn’t make it work in his non-dominant hand, and he was almost certain he was getting the movement wrong. Severus stumbled as he tried to move and nearly doubled over as the pain flew up his arm and down his side, he hadn’t realised exactly how much of the potion had hit him, and it seemed like the waistcoat had been less than useless in stopping the liquid seeping through and irritating the skin below.

“Poppy,” Severus managed softly as he found something to lean against, “burns.” he ground out harshly as he tried, unsuccessfully, to unbutton the waistcoat and shirt to get it off. His hands had started shaking, and he was too distracted by the pain to find any dark amusement in the tremors starting now when he badly needed his dexterity. “Light head,” he managed, Alpha was staring at him, “something, tongue,” he spat out as thickly, “something wrong.” he managed, and Alpha just caught him as he stumbled.

He would never remember how they made it to the hospital wing or precisely what had happened, he would remember the way Poppy flapped and shrieked her concern and the way his alpha had all but forced him into the bed to be treated. He would remember because the last thing he thought before the dreamless sleep kicked in was wondering why his alpha cared so much about an injury that would have no impact on his ability to present himself for use.


	17. Chapter 17

Severus woke slowly, to the sound of conversation somewhere beyond the curtain around his bed.

_“Burnt by an explosion?”_

_“Yeah, went straight through those robes he was so sure were perfectly adequate.”_

Severus groaned and tried to sit up, wincing as pain lanced through his side and a soft touch brushed against his arm. The curtain moved to admit the matron and a momentary glance beyond that revealed that darkness had fallen through the window.  
  
‘Well, Professor Snape… Mister Potter has carried you half dead onto my hospital wing again.” Severus winced at the censure in Poppy’s voice.  
  
“If I hadn’t taken the blast, that little idiot would have gotten a face full of that sludge.” Severus snarled back.  
  
“Instead that sludge ate through all layers you were wearing and started in on your flesh. Why didn’t you banish the clothing and use water from your wand?”  
  
“I was too dizzy, and a little distracted, Poppy.” it didn’t occur to him to tell her that he’d tried and failed.  
  
“You don’t _get_ distracted, Severus.” Poppy said, frowning slightly.  
  
“A newly bonded Omega always is, Poppy. You know that. Yet I still risked teaching today.” Severus looked away, and his eyes fell on his Alpha, who was staring at him in horrified shock where he had followed the woman through the gap in the curtain. He dropped his head immediately.

“You knew there was a risk?” Harry demanded, voice louder and harder than he intended.

“Mister Potter, please control your tone in _my_ ward or I will remove you.” Poppy sniped and carefully placed herself between Harry and Severus. Harry fixed her with an incredulous look at the movement as Severus pressed his hand to her arm and nudged her back aside.

“Not a good idea, Poppy.”  
  
“You are my patient, Severus.”  
  
“And he’s my Alpha, madam. He has right to me, no matter what else you would wish.” Severus murmured, dark gaze fixed on Harry. Poppy glanced between them in shock, she’d assumed Harry had brought Severus because he was there when the blast happened, not because he had a personal interest.

“When you came here yesterday, I was under the impression that you had reached an understanding.” Poppy frowned, she’d assumed that they were courting, not already bonded.  She eyed Harry speculatively as she considered that he had been in for his usual suppressor, which should not have been needed if what Severus was saying was true.

“Ah,” Severus commented. “The ministry is usually faster on informing primary medical providers.”  
  
“Um… Severus? They may be dragging their feet because the last time they ‘announced’ something related to me, I ended up suing three newspapers, a tabloid, and a cookbook.” Harry warned, and Poppy frowned. Severus managed an amused smirk.  
  
“The two I understand, but a cookbook?” Severus asked, willing to risk his Alpha’s displeasure since he was already lying in a hospital bed.  
  
“ _Somebody_ got ahold of my muffin recipe. My lemon streusel muffins and sold them as “Harry Potter’s Magical Muffins”. That was never meant to be _sold_.” Harry huffed. Severus bit back a smirk with some difficulty, the expression on his alpha’s face was amusing, but as injured as he was he wasn’t quite ready to take that much of a risk with his Alpha’s temper.  
  
“Of course, Molly was happy for a copy of them, I am certain?” Severus hazarded. Harry nodded even as he rolled his eyes.  
  
“Mister Potter, I know how difficult it is for you to remain in a bed…”  
  
“Um… Madam Pomfrey?” Harry started, confused.  
  
“Oh, I’m sorry, Harry. _Professor Potter_ , you will stay put, even if I have to hex you still. The burn cream is not yet fully absorbed. And it needs to fully absorb to be effective.” Severus just nodded rapidly, knowing how much of a dragon the woman would be if her dictates were ignored.  
  
“Madam?”  
  
“Yes, Harry?” The matron turned to face the Alpha.  
  
“We are trying to keep it under wraps for now. Trying to get til the List is published to get the three of us used to each other, so keep calling him Snape. I don’t have a problem with it. And he doesn’t seem to?” Harry darted a look towards his Omega, who was staring at him blank-faced, but his eyes held traces of confusion.

“You intend to wait until the new year to have this publicly known?” Poppy didn’t look impressed.

“It’s only next week and the Christmas hols unless you want me to fill your beds with teenage alphas and idiot journos when they come buzzing around?” Harry said almost smoothly, and Poppy stared at him.  
  
“The Alphas and most of the Beta’s of Slytherin House will want to kill me for claiming their Head. The other Houses? For claiming the man that protected them _all_ year before last. The journalists are just on principle. If we wait ‘til the lists… there is no way a challenge can go forward. It would be too _late_ to challenge me.” He spared another glance at Severus who nodded and gestured to him when Poppy fixed the professor with a questioning look.

“I finally have a bit of freedom to live, I’m not about to abandon my family because some idiot got his blood up and tried to have a go, so we’re trying to _mitigate_ the possibility of me ending up in Azkaban .” Harry watched her applying the balm to Severus’s arm absently; where it had been angry red before this second application (the first having been while he slept), the lotion was finally reducing the heat, colour and judging by the relief that crossed Severus’s expression, the irritation as well.  
  
“Very well, now… Alpha or no… you will give me time _alone_ with my patient, so _out_ , Mr Potter.”  
  
Severus watched his alpha hesitate for three seconds before the man turned on his heel and left the ward. Severus bit his lip to keep the whine of distress contained. He understood on one level that it _was_ instinct driving him to call his Alpha back, but he also knew that the questions Poppy needed to ask him could _not_ be asked with a freshly bonded Alpha hovering.  
  
“Severus… is there anyone you would wish here with you while I ask you certain questions?”  
  
Severus shifted on the bed, unease rippling through him as his mind went to the one person he would want next to him… but that was impossible. “No, Madam. There is no one to stand for me at this time.”  
  
An eyebrow rose in question. Severus sighed, “He is physically unable to be here. House arrest, madam.”  
  
Poppy rolled her eyes and turned on her heel, calling back over her shoulder, “Stay put.”  
  
Five minutes later, the matron was back, carrying a small rectangular mirror with a border of serpents as its frame. Severus recognised it as being part of a pair of two-way mirrors from Malfoy Manor. She conjured a structure for the thing to rest on and then cast several privacy spells.  
  
_“Sanctimonia Vincet Semper_ ,” Severus murmured, looking at the mirror. He watched it simmer for a few seconds before Lucius’ face resolved.  
  
“Severus. Madam. What so urgently needed my attention that a House Elf was dispatched to collect this mirror?” Lucius asked, silver eyes narrowed and fingers steepled and pressed against one another as he glanced between the pair before him.  
  
“Severus has been claimed by an Alpha. As it is my policy to assure the Omega in question is whole after such an occurrence, Severus asked that you stand for him.”  
  
“ _Severus_! Do I have to kill some little idiot?”  
  
Severus’ immediate response was another whine of distress and a shake of his head. He couldn’t look at his best friend. “I was willing.”  
  
“Willing, or so exhausted from the chase that you yielded?” Lucius asked, voice carrying a dangerous edge.  
  
“Willing.” Severus responded, voice sharp, “My Alpha would not chase. He -- _Luc_? He took a temporary castration potion, _just to sit with me_ a few weeks ago when I was too tired to function. He did so willingly.”  
  
“Very well.” Lucius sounded surprised but not completely convinced. “Your questions, Madam?”  
  
“I only did a general diagnostic when you were brought in. You do have burns on your side and arm and a spot or two near your throat, Severus. However? I would need to perform a more detailed scan to look for the sorts of injuries that --” she trailed off delicately, they had too much history for her not to be personally affected by his being claimed.

  
“A newly bonded Omega would have if it were done by force.” Severus interrupted, and the matron nodded, face pale. “Cast your diagnostics, Madam.”  
  
The wand work was precise and neat. Severus just waited as he stared down at the resulting parchment. “You are malnourished and exhausted, _as usual_ , injured from the potions explosion and have bruises on your back, most likely from colliding with stone. There is a claiming mark on your neck. And... “  
  
“And?” Lucius prompted, silver eyes burning in an otherwise still face.  
  
“No obvious signs of violence. Of intimate relations, yes. But nothing that suggests a violent claiming, or even a rough claiming.”  
  
“Of course not. Harry would cut off his wand hand first.” Of course, Lucius knows that there was only one Harry at Hogwarts right now.

  
“Potter?! I will rip out his intestines, Severus! There is _no_ way this was willing! Check him for every potion known to wizardkind that could alter his senses or his consent, Madam.”  
  
“Luc? Shut it. We both had drinks, he checked, before disrobing, After disrobing, and before he _actually shoved his cock up me_.” Lucius and Poppy pulled identical faces at the crude delivery. “I had _multiple_ chances to tell him no. I did _not._ ”  
  
“Did you tell him yes?” Luc asked, focusing on the way his friend was responding.

“Of course not,” Severus rolled his eyes that his friend would consider him quite that forward. “I did not, however, tell him ‘no’,” Lucius made a low sound of rage, “Nor attempt to relieve him of any significant bodily appendages.” As his old friend, Lucius should have understood well enough to appreciate the position Severus had been in.  
  
“He stopped, Luc… when… I froze… he stopped. You _know_ how others would have responded to that. He waited. I surrendered everything to him, Luc. Didn’t fight.” Severus drew a shuddering breath and switched his attention to the matron.  
  
“I was _completely_ willing, madam. Even though it may be far too early to detect… is there any possibility that…” Severus trailed off and looked down at his blanket-covered legs.  
  
“Severus?”  
  
“Conception test, Severus?” Lucius asked from the mirror. The Omega managed a nod and bit his lip, only half strangling the whine at the thought of so soon…  
  
“I will perform the test, but in either case, you will need to eat more, and rest more… if your Alpha will permit it?”  
  
“With our Beta? I will be lucky to not find food shoved at me at every opportunity. You know how he is.” Poppy nodded, “And my Alpha enjoys cooking.”  
  
“Rest?”  
  
“At my Alpha’s pleasure, Madam. It is still the Season.” Severus shrugged a shoulder.  
  
“Considering when he took that dosage… you should be able to get a few nights of uninterrupted sleep before he starts pawing at you.”  
  
“It is Potter, Madam. Our Beta would have a better indication of his appetites. I am an Omega…” he caught the expression Lucius bore in the mirror, “Yet? Before you start Luc, I was willing. He _asked_ Luc. He would have offered to court me, but… it is the Season now.” Severus once more shrugged and Madam Pomfrey only frowned at him in mild displeasure.  
  
“Potion?”  
   
“Patient confidentiality prevents me from saying anything.” Poppy managed primly.  
  
“Is it for something that could harm you?”  
  
“It was something he did to protect our Beta, initially, and me… after the initial bonding.” Severus denied, ducking his head and closing his eyes.  
  
“Severus?” Poppy’s voice was gentle, catching something in his body language.  
  
“It’s blasphemy for an Alpha to do that.”  
  
“A suppressor?” Lucius shrewdly guessed. Severus went still and cursed himself for saying anything. “Then he is at least marginally intelligent. You are in no shape to deal with a rutting Alpha male even during the Season, my friend. You need the rest and food.”  
  
“Luc, I can accommodate him.”  
  
“When you are resting in a hospital bed? And I heard something about an explosion in passing?”  
  
Severus merely dragged a hand over his face instead of answering.  
  
“Lie still, if you would, Severus?”  
  
The dark haired man froze as he felt the magic ripple over and through him. He then stared up at the Matron with pleading eyes as another piece of parchment formed. She glanced down, and Severus wasn’t sure how to take the sheer relief in her expression.

 

“Poppy?” He almost convinced himself she hadn’t heard him before she half smiled and shook her head.

“Not this time,” Severus couldn’t help the wave of… was that, he was actually disappointed. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms low against his stomach.

“You and i both know, Severus,” Poppy started to say and he sighed, knowing without her having to say it that she was correct.

“I am not fool enough to presume that his obsession with my health is entirely altruistic.” Severus commented, eyes still closed to keep back the tears he could feel collecting behind the lids- he would not shame himself or his alpha by losing control.

“Severus, in your current condition,” Poppy started to say, her tone serious.

“I am perfectly aware of the risks, my hormones however are less… sensible.” He forced out a shaky breath as he tried to recapture control over the gaping hole of shame and hurt that had opened in his chest, “Ignore me, it will pass.”  
  
“Severus, I have seen Omegas that were… abused beyond belief to ensure conception. You show none of those hallmarks.”

“You forget how many of my students i have brought to you over the years, madam, i am well aware of the usual ...process…”

  
He’d always wished never to suffer it but to bond and remain childless was a hell he hadn’t been prepared to face, it somehow hadn’t ever occurred to him that he would _want_ to have conceived so soon, however illogical the wish.

“Severus, the nerve damage you have alone,” Poppy finally snapped at him and he stiffened, “you would be very lucky to survive long enough with that kind of pressure on your body to birth a healthy child.” He fixed her with a withering glare.  
  
He knew. _By Merlin, he knew_. He didn’t like it and had spent half his life in denial at the damage he had sustained over the years and the possible consequences of it; but sat there hormonal, vulnerable and newly bonded it was not what he needed to hear.  
  
“Madam? Cease. Or you will send him into a fit.” Lucius snapped from the frame. Severus shuddered, this was no longer about wants or medical questions, he needed his alpha, and the distance was driving him to distraction again.  
  
“Severus? How long?”  
  
“A day… at most?” Severus murmured, forcing himself still as he realised he had been clutching at his stomach and curling over on it. “The night of the funeral…” He mumbled as he tried to calculate the time and failed because he was couldn’t quite remember what day or time it was.

  
“Are there any pertinent questions that still need to be asked, Madam?” Lucius’s cool drawl was so obviously faked Severus nearly laughed aloud, he couldn’t quite believe that Lucius was concerned, Lucius didn’t _do_ concerned about anyone or anything.  

 

“Unless you have anything to add, Severus,” He almost clawed at her and the soft pitying tone in her voice as she spoke to him, rage at being coddled bubbling inside him as he tried desperately to keep himself safe without his alpha there to protect him.

“I am not a child!” He snarled out almost automatically as he forced himself to straighten up and control his emotions.  
  
“No, but you are practically skin and bone and exhausted, which would impact your emotional state. And, as Mr. Malfoy pointed out… you are newly bonded. I have watched younger Omegas start begging for their Alpha by this point, or their scent gets away from them… and their Alpha comes barging in.”

“I _reiterate_.” Severus ground out and she dismissed his glare with a pointed look at where his hands were still clasped over his midsection. She knew exactly how much he was struggling.

“I will bring him back in then.” Severus nodded tightly and bit down on his tongue to stop the whimper escaping him and shaming himself any further. It was a lot harder than he wanted anyone to know not to sit there and beg to have his alpha back with him.

“Severus,” he glanced at the reflection of Lucius, “Keep the mirror, keep contact when you can.” Severus stared, distracted for a mere moment, in two decades of friendship Severus had never seen Lucius show quite so much concern as that statement implied. He only nodded and then watched the mirror become nothing more than a reflective surface and Poppy left him be.

-

Harry eyed Poppy warily when she stepped into the office room she’d pushed him into to wait, he had an inkling what that was about but he wasn’t about to push her. He noticed instantly how her expression to him had softened.

“He needs rest, Harry, and a proper diet if you ever wish to see him healthy enough to bear you an heir.” Harry blinked, that was the furthest thing from his mind.

“Nevermind _bear me an heir,_ I just want him healthy full stop.” Poppy stared at him. “Will you help, I have no idea where to start?”

“Small regular meals, similar to the regimen you took last year. _Uninterrupted_ sleep,” Harry nodded, “be gentle with him.” Harry opened his mouth to declare that he had been and Poppy held up a hand. “Severus is much older and much more damaged than newly bonded omegas normally are, through no fault of _yours_ ,” she added as if surprised at herself for saying it, “do not expect him to conceive so easily.” Harry nodded.

“I just accepted a five year apprenticeship, we renewed his work contract because he wanted to see out his commitments here,” Harry told her softly, “I know how badly damaged Neville is just from that one year, and Severus suffered a lot longer. I wouldn’t ask either of them to raise a child anytime soon.” Poppy nodded.

“Then you should manage his disappointment-“ she gestured to the door and Harry couldn’t help looking incredulous, _Severus, disappointed not to have children_? “He is still an omega, Mister Potter however little he acts like it.” Harry’s lip quirked in a smile.

“Rest also means not having to retain that ridiculous facade he insists is necessary.” Harry’s smile became very fixed.

“I just need to get him through the season, he doesn’t need to watch me kill someone because they challenged me,” Poppy’s expression twisted up into a sneer, “and you know I would be well within my legal rights to protect him.” She sighed.

“Go to your omega Mister Potter, save your aggression and hold him, _that_ is what he needs from you now.” Harry swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and nodded.

“Thank you, Madam.” She half smiled at him.

-

 

“Alpha,” Severus couldn’t stop the piteous whimper that escaped him. He felt himself flush with shame as the young man’s arms wrapped around him carefully and Harry slid onto the edge of the bed. His body reacted to his Alpha’s presence automatically, leaning in and he wound his hand into his alpha’s shirt, not caring for a moment how pathetic it was that he was clinging so tightly.

“I’m right here omega, right here,” maybe it was the kind touch or maybe the soft ring of alpha’s tone as he whispered the soothing mantra but Severus couldn’t take it anymore and, to his utter mortification, he cracked completely. For several minutes he simply _cried_. Through it all alpha didn’t move from him or loose his grip, soft hands had begun to tangle through his hair and stroke his neck soothingly when Severus finally caught hold of himself.

“I forgive me alpha I-“ he bit our in a rush, he couldn’t quite believe he’d just done that, in his entire life Severus had never cried like that. “I have always been rather-“ the hysterical laugh bubbled out of him, “had poor timing with hormones,” alpha tensed but didn’t stop stroking his neck soothingly.

“Oh?”

“Matured early, very early,” his mind was spinning away from him in this emotional state, “ _always ahead young snape_ ,” that sounded like he was mimicking someone to Harry’s ears and the almost amused tone was close on hysterical, “always early, too soon, too young,” Harry didn’t care to hear more as he yanked a tissue from the box that had appeared on the table and used it to stem the tears streaming from his omega’s eyes, “ _although his mother cannot count and his father doesn’t care so how would you know,_ ” Harry’s grip tightened as he rubbed his omegas back soothingly and the words hit him, he had no idea what Severus was rambling about and he wasn’t making much sense. Severus was laughing almost madly to himself between sobs and harshly drawn breaths. Eventually he steadied and let go of Harry as he sat up self consciously. Or, more accurately, he tried to but Harry wasn’t letting go of him.

“Easy, let me hold you,” Harry murmured softly as he dabbed at Severus’s tears again, “want to tell me what all that was about?” Harry asked gently. Severus half shrugged, his shoulder still too painful to move properly even though the burns had mostly disappeared.

“It has long since stopped mattering…” he mumbled softly.

“Matters to you.” Harry observed and Severus let out a low sound like a bitter laugh.

“Difficult births run in the family, alpha,” Severus said almost flippantly as he stroked his hand down his face and drew in a steeling breath, “however I have no such excuse for rampant hormonal outbursts.” Harry almost laughed at the tone Severus delivered that in and the accompanying semi-disgusted expression.

“Difficult births?” Severus wasn’t sure he wanted to go into all of this now, he was also well aware that it was his own fault the topic had been raised at all and that it would be better said sooner than later.

“I almost killed my mother.” He answered flatly. “She spent a long time comatose, some idiot muggle nurse on a double shift told her she had been that way for eighteen months, not eight.” Harry wasn’t following. “And her mind was so scrambled from it she misreported my date of birth to the ministry.” Harry didn’t understand. “She never realised or rectified the error until it was too late.”

“So…?” Harry wasn’t sure what the problem was.

“I attended Hogwarts a year early,” Severus said slowly as he watched comprehension dawn in his alpha’s eyes, “and the exposure to maturing students in Slytherin House triggered my own maturity, in the spring of my fifth year…” Harry’s mind was whirring.

“When you had just turned…” normally students turned sixteen in their fifth year and even that would have been young to mature, “ _fifteen_?” Severus nodded against his chest.

“And you… you kept up with your year group, when you were that much younger?” Severus nodded.

“There was a reason I excelled at lessons that did not require raw power over technical understanding.” Severus said. “I had yet to mature to their level.” Harry let that sink in slowly, imagining how hard that had to have been.

“Wait but-“ severus tilted his head in question, “You were in the same year as my parents…” Severus raised an eyebrow as if asking what that had to do with the price of fish. “And I know you were easily as capable as they were.” Severus snorted.

“Do enjoy your delusion if it please you, alpha,” He tensed as soon as the words left his mouth, he hadn’t meant to be that facetious. It still irked him somewhat that no one had noticed and perhaps if they had he might not have spent quite so many nights with bruised pride and hex marks as a student. Harry shook his head and squeezed Severus’s hand gently where it had finally healed.

“No one noticed?”

“I was assumed to be underfed,” Severus sighed, “second hand robes will create that impression.” Harry didn’t understand what that meant. “It was still practice to attend halfbloods at home on school entry,” harry waited, Severus was clearly carefully considering every word, “once the professor in question saw the hovel I was raised in, any questions regarding lack of height or normal development… were considered answered.” It was Harry’s turn to sigh knowingly.

“And you matured at fifteen?” Harry couldn’t believe it, to mature that young- no wonder Severus had been paranoid about his own safety. “How on earth did you manage that?”

“My mother.” Severus said shortly before elaborating on noting the questioning look his alpha had fixed him with. He pulled a face and put on a slight change in pitch to his voice. “ _Control it Severus, I haven’t spent five years teaching you occlumency for you to get yourself snagged by the first alpha who passes you downwind._ ” Alpha half laughed as if appreciating the somewhat mocking tone.

“When did you realise what she’d done?”

“When the trace didn’t break.” Severus answered softly and Harry had to stop himself letting out a low whistle of awe.

“You were sixteen before anyone realised?” Severus made a low amused sound.

“My father had long since been lost to the bottle and no one thought to check the declaration of birth submitted by a mother at the ministry.” A pause. “After all. Why would they question the woman who gave birth over the date of it?” Harry half sighed as he carded his fingers through his omega’s hair and silently thanked whichever deity or higher power that cared to listen for his omega’s forbearance. “They simply assumed, especially in hindsight, that I had a seers instinct.” Severus didn’t bother hiding his sneer at the very thought.

“Eh?”

“The war that followed the year I should have matured forced several in that cohort to delay their maturity as survival instinct took over.”

“You mean like Ginny and Luna only maturing this year instead of last when they came of age?” Severus nodded.

“So they assumed that you somehow knew it was coming and got in early?”

“ _Why would a young Omega not mature in search of protection on the eve of war_?” Harry had never heard anything so ludicrous in his life and judging by his tone Severus hadn’t either.

“But if you hadn’t, they’d have taken you for a beta, and you’d have been safer?” That seemed to be the logical conclusion.

“I refrained from arguing that point for the sake of a peaceful life, alpha.” Harry pulled a face. “I have no interest in attempting to convince the world that it’s understanding of omega instincts is faulty.” Harry snorted.

“Bunch of bigots the lot of them.” He mumbled darkly and dropped a kiss to the top of Severus’s head in a protective gesture that made Severus squirm comfortably and press himself closer to Harry’s chest. His eyes slipped closed under the influence of the second kick he was getting from the sleeping draught and pure exhaustion, “rest little one, I’m not going anywhere.” Harry whispered unnecessarily for Severus had already fallen back asleep in his arms.

 

-

 

“I just-I just heard!” Neville was bent double using his knees for support and winded from running when he arrived in the hospital wing and barged into Poppy’s office without stopping. “Are they ok?” Poppy blinked at him.

“Mister Longbottom?” Neville swung around and slammed the office door shut in his panic.

“Harry and Severus, are they ok?” He stopped and stood upright, breathing heavily as the matron considered him. “I heard there had been an explosion.”

“They are fine,” she told him firmly, “minor injuries requiring a good night's rest and nothing more.” Neville visibly relaxed.

“Can I, just look in on them?” Poppy half smiled.

“I was about to wake and move them to a private room anyway, Mister Longbottom, to prevent any nosy students wondering why the Potions Master and his student are sharing a bed on an empty hospital ward.” Neville nodded. “Your presence may smooth the way a little, if yesterday’s newspaper is to be believed?” Neville nodded that ‘yes it was’ as he followed her back onto the ward.

They approached the bed together and Neville pulled back the curtain for Poppy to step through. Both melted a little at the sight that greeted them. Harry had curled himself as much as possible around Severus who was using his chest as a pillow, harry was playing absently with severus’s hair.

“Thought I heard you go haring past Nev,” Harry mumbled sleepily, it wasn’t that he was trying to stay awake but he hadn’t wanted to risk severus taking a turn in his sleep and not knowing. It had resulted in him lying there as simply allowing his mind to wander as he watched his Omega rest.

“Looking for you, you nut,” Neville teased quietly, “heard you walked through toxic smoke to get to him.”

“It hit him direct, Craven cooked his potion too much and it went bang.” Neville half laughed with relief.

“Come Mister Potter, the two of you cannot sleep here,” Harry groaned sleepily, “you are far too visible to passers by.” He sighed but leaned down and shook Severus’s shoulder gently.

“Sev, wake up little one, we need to move,” Severus let out a low incoherent mumbling sound as he came to wakefulness and his alpha sat them both up in the bed, “Hey, alright?” He nodded lightly.

“‘Sauxsted.” He mumbled and Harry nodded.

“I know, just need to move then go back to sleep.” Severus nodded again and moved to stand abruptly, he misjudged the width of the bed and let out a confused sounding yelp. Neville dived forward and caught him before he hit the ground.

“Easy there,” Neville managed as he helped Severus to right himself and ignored the garbled apologies. He smirked though when the Omega leaned against him, snuffling slightly at his neck. Harry stood a little more sedately and kissed Neville lightly once he was on his feet and Severus had moved back towards him with another mumbled apology to them both. Severus pulled a face when Poppy tried to call them from the bedside.

“Gave me the wrong damn potion woman!” His scowl made Harry laugh even as he wondered what his omega was talking about. Then Severus tried to take a step without his Alpha’s support and his legs promptly folded -- only Neville’s reflexive grab for the Omega kept the older man upright.

“I did not.” Poppy shot at him hotly. Severus whined and clung to his Beta. Harry merely observed the interaction, ready to catch their Omega if the man were foolish enough to try and walk on his own again.

“Know ‘m sensitive to chamomile, should've used valerian variant. Less groggy.”

“And had I given you that you would have left this ward several hours ago under your own power.” Neville bit back a laugh as he understood, Poppy had done it deliberately to keep Severus in his bed.

“Feel pis’thed,” he frowned and pulled a face before sticking out his tongue slightly and pressing his top teeth into it as if checking it was still there, “so’s me tongue.” Severus lisped out.  
  
The growl that slipped from Harry had the Beta checking his Alpha with a glance, and he gathered the Omega closer as the man whined in response. Harry held out his arms and Severus fell into his grasp rather than stepped into it.  
  
“He is undernourished, exhausted… and you thought it a bloody good idea to get him stoned?! Drugging him to sleep doesn’t help his emotional stability, madam… and he’s been away from _me_ for hours -- because of the requirements of teaching _dunderheaded flobberworms_ , as he once put it. No wonder he broke down crying on me earlier…” Harry dragged a hand through his hair and sighed tiredly as Severus pined sleepily against his neck.  
  
“How long have we been drowsing?”  
  
“Since you crawled in with him… it’s past dinner, Harr.”  
  
“Omega-Mine? Can you eat?” Harry asked, supporting the Omega’s weight as he cuddled against him.  
  
“Don wanna,” Severus muttered. Harry traded a look with Neville who only rolled his eyes.  
  
“Soup?”  
  
“No.” The grimace Severus pulled was amusing to Harry.  
  
“Oxtail? You always liked it when at Headquarters, Severus.”  
  
“Tired. Chewing… no… ‘anna sleep.”  
  
“Just a mugful, Omega. For both of you. You don’t want Harry not eating either, do you?” Neville asked, and Severus managed to lift his head to stare at his Alpha blearily.  
  
A wavering hand lifted and a finger prodded accusingly into Harry’s chest. “Eat.”  
  
Harry sighed and nodded. “If you do.”  
  
“Kay.” Severus managed as Neville stepped up to his other side and helped support his weight.  
  
“Usual room, Madam?” Harry asked, yawning. She only nodded, and Harry started forward in sync with Neville. They paused twice for Severus to figure out how to get his feet back under him.  
  
Harry only smiled when Severus fell into the bed with a content little murmur. He chuckled when he realised Neville was being tugged in with them because the older man had failed to let go of the Beta’s hand.

 

“Can I have my hand back?” Neville asked softly as he leaned over to stop himself being pulled into the bed right next to them. Severus mumbled something unintelligible and didn’t let go. “Severus?”

“No,” Severus managed into the pillow he was pressed against.

“I do need it though,” Neville tried gently, and with a smirk at his Alpha, Harry was obviously fighting laughter at seeing Severus like this.

“Don’t,” Severus argued petulantly and Neville sighed, waving and wriggling his fingers and then he got an idea and shot a sly look at Harry as his fingertip connected lightly with Severus’s nose and Severus made an irritated sound as he scrunched up his face.

“Hm, did that on purpose, beta.” he voice was low and had dipped into a sleepy growl. When Neville did it again, he opened an eye and glared balefully. Neville bit his lip and tried not to look at Harry who was shaking with suppressed mirth.

“I need my hand?” Severus scowled.

“No, you don’t.” Neville sighed and let out a low, amused huff. “Just as easily blow something up with th’other.” Harry nudged his omega gently, and Severus scowled. “S’warm-n steady.” He half knew he should not be acting like this but couldn’t quite pull himself together enough to stop- this was why he hated taking chamomile, it was entirely harmless, but it all-but-literally turned him into a cranky toddler.

“Nev needs his hand so he can bring us soup. You do want me to eat, right?”

Severus glared up at Harry and hissed cartoonishly. He even stuck his tongue out, and Harry smiled.

“Both.”

“Not unless we splinch him,” Harry said jokingly, Severus winced dramatically and was distracted just enough for Neville to tease his hand free.

“Ah-ha. Now you have to eat!” Severus groaned and dropped his head back onto the pillow.

“Call me when elf gets here.” He mumbled sleepily. Harry sighed and patted Severus’s hair dotingly as he waited for Neville to call an elf and ask.

“Well,” Harry stiffened, he’d completely forgotten that Poppy was still in the room, “that was amusing,” Harry nodded and snickered. “I haven’t seen Severus that stoned since the first time I gave him a sleeping-draught as a student.” Harry glanced at her worriedly. “Never fear Mister Potter, it does him no harm, but he _will_ sleep.” Harry relaxed and made a mental note to see if he could get the elves to leave some chamomile tea bags in Severus’s quarters if it was really that reliable in putting his Omega to sleep.

 

“Two soups!” Neville called out, and Severus groaned at the thought of having to move.  
  
When the elf popped in, Neville only nodded and took both mugs and the single slice of buttered thick bread that also rested on one of the cups.  
  
“Come on, sleepy one… food’s here.” Neville cajoled, easily avoiding the batting hand that Severus attempted to employ to drive him away. When Severus was mostly upright, and the pillows were piled behind the older man to keep him that way, Neville let him have the mug that didn’t have the bread on top, remembering the muttered comment about chewing.  
  
Harry got the other mug with the bread. Neville merely raised his brows when Madam Pomfrey huffed.  
  
“If you want to try and talk a potion down _our_ Omega’s throat, you are welcome to try it. But I wouldn’t be able to get Harry to take one at the moment… so I won’t even risk Severus.”  
  
“You didn’t even stop to consider I might have them on restricted diets?”  
  
“Madam? Any time we can get Severus to eat is to be considered a victory given his current weight. Now? Unless you want to try and make him chew, let them sip.” Neville went so far as to wave the amused matron away. He blinked when she went too.  Harry smiled as he chewed on a corner of bread, with Neville here he couldn’t help that he was feeling a lot sleepier than he had before. He lifted the mug to his lips and held it there a moment, savouring the smell and the heat of it. Without warning his eyes fluttered, and his head nodded. He startled back fully awake suddenly.

“Alright Har?” Neville asked, concerned and Harry nodded even as he yawned. Severus was staring at him with his head cocked slightly to one side. Harry blinked at his omega and frowned, confused.

“What?” Severus looked at him, then back to his own mug as if concerned it had more than soup in it then he lifted a hand slowly and reached upwards. Harry went very still trying to see what Severus was going to do when Severus swiped his nose with a fingertip and broke into a wicked grin.

“Soup on your nose!” Neville laughed first, and Harry followed after staring dumbfounded at his omega for a second or so while he processed the words. It was the way Severus collapsed into a heap of giggles that made Harry stop and take his mug from him without him even realising it. He couldn’t help it, seeing Severus lose it only made it harder for him to stop laughing.

  
He waited until Severus was down to hiccups before he returned the mug. He then sipped at his own soup.  
  
“Harr? What did you have today?”  
  
“Um…” Harry started before dropping his eyes to the blankets guiltily, he’d been far too focused on Severus and had completely forgotten to eat.. Neville only sighed and glanced at the Matron.  
  
“One vial for each?”  
  
Neville nodded, and Harry made a face. The matron vanished through the door as Severus finished the rest of his soup and just sat there blinking for a few seconds before he sagged back against the pillows.  
  
When she returned, Harry went tense, and Severus blinked awake again, feeling the difference in his Alpha’s posture. The pitiful whine he gave at the sight of the potion had Neville sighing and Harry agreeing with the noise.  
  
“Harr? One vial. You knew that this would happen if you skipped meals.”  
Harry huffed but swapped the mug to his other hand and took the vial. Severus’ eyes went round when another was put in his hands.  
  
“Poppy?” Severus tried, even as his eyelids drooped. ”Really?”

  
“Beta prerogative, Omega,” Neville said, with the hint of a growl in his voice. Severus actually flinched but nodded once even as he leaned back into his alpha, seeking a little protection from beta’s anger. He swallowed the liquid with a shudder and a grimace.  
  
Harry mirrored the shudder but took his own potion without the grimace. He saw the way Severus peered into his empty mug and grimaced again. He also caught the small glance towards his own cup.  
  
Dropping the vial onto the bedside table, Harry pressed his mug to Severus’ lips and let the older man sip at the soup that remained there, knowing the flavour was far more palatable than nutrient potion _ever_ was.  Severus sipped hesitantly and swilled his mouth with the last of Harry’s soup to clear the taste of the potion as he watched his alpha set the now empty mug back down on the table.  
  
“Rest now, Omega.” Harry murmured, not at all surprised when Severus snuggled into his chest, more than willing to obey the command he’d been given without a word of protest.  
  
Harry gladly accepted the sherbert lemon that Poppy handed him before the woman traded a look with Neville and ushered the beta from the room. Harry only stared at the wards long enough to assure himself he knew them all, and the sweet had dissolved fully on his tongue before he wiggled slightly to get the pillow comfortable under his neck. Harry let himself slide back towards sleep with his omega curled into his chest for warmth and the comfort it gave them both to be so close.

 


	18. Chapter 18

_This_ was why Severus hated taking chamomile, _precisely this reason;_ namely, that he had somehow been transplanted into his quarters and had no _fucking_ idea how he got there. He was almost sure his Alpha was in on it, but he didn't actually have any proof, and that stuff had left him so hungover he wasn’t sure he had the motivation to do more than glance around warily from where he was laid, glare at his surroundings and grumble uselessly to himself.

He started when a hand slid into his hair and slowly opened an eye. The face of his Alpha wavered for a moment like a bubble about to burst in a potion, and he huffed out a breath even as his hand snuck under his pillow to where his wand should have been lying in wait- just in case.

“Shh, you are safe. Promise. Your rooms. Your bed.” Alpha murmured. Severus flailed his free hand around a bit until he came into contact with his Alpha’s arm. His fingers traced up to the shoulder, and then he tugged the Alpha closer and settled his head on the other man’s shoulder. If the man were drugging him, he would be serving as Severus’ pillow.

“Of course you can use me as a pillow, little one.” Harry murmured and Severus was certain he was now blushing. He hadn’t meant to say that aloud. _Damned chamomile_. Harry laughed softly to himself and made a mental note to have a video camera to hand the next time Severus so much as smelled Chamomile, this was just too precious to let pass by without having evidence.

Harry blinked when his hand was captured and tugged against his Omega’s chest. Apparently, this particular herb made him clingy and cuddly. He only smirked when Severus' eyes slid closed again as the man hummed happily and clung firmly to the hand he had captured as he pinned Harry to the bed just by half-laying on him.

Harry flicked his own wand to check the time and only rolled his eyes. It was early enough that he could still get away with sleeping more. He allowed himself a moment to reach out to the simple wards he’d added to Severus’ and the Castle’s own and then turned his head to brush a gentle kiss against his Omega’s forehead. Sleep pulled him easily under minutes later.

-

Severus was starving. That was his one and only thought when he opened his eyes, or it was once he realised that he was holding his alpha’s arm like it was some kind of teddy bear and promptly dropped it. Alpha moved a second after that and Severus froze. Alpha blinked awake and stared at him questioningly.

“You ok?” Severus bit his lip at the question, but his stomach gave him away and rumbled loudly. He flushed, and Alpha laughed before glancing up at the clock on the wall.

“Breakfast, right…” Alpha considered for a beat. “Full English?”

Severus couldn’t make himself answer verbally, but Alpha nodded anyway as he dragged himself upright on the bed.

“You order, I’ll shower then I’ll tell them to lay it out while you shower?” Severus nodded carefully.

“I don’t eat black pudding, don’t let them put it on my plate, turns my stomach.” Severus nodded, he didn’t share the sentiment, but he’d been around enough southerners to know that it was one they all seemed to share.

“Do you eat mushrooms, Alpha?” Severus asked hesitantly, he hated the things with a vengeance he reserved for broccoli and death eaters.

“Love them, why?”

“I’ll take your black pudding you take my mushrooms?” He suggested carefully, and alpha laughed.

“Deal. make sure Winky cooks my tomatoes and eggs, she knows I like the skin crispy and yolks soft.” Severus nodded as Alpha excused himself. Severus snapped his finger to call an elf and place their order.

His Alpha vanished into the bath and Severus took a moment to press his fingers against his lips. He had negotiated with Alpha. _What in the world had he been thinking?_ Damned herb, it made him sloppy.

Pushing his blankets back, he slid from the bed and nodded when Winky appeared before him, little lace cap aquiver.

“Two full English Breakfasts. Alpha prefers his eggs with the yolk soft and crispy skinned tomatoes. Potter’s usual tea as well as my own usual coffee.” Severus waited until the elf popped out and then pulled his wand from beneath his pillow with a sigh.

A murmured spell straightened and freshened the bed. Only then did he glance down at himself and realise he was in a nightshirt of emerald green… he couldn’t tell if it was satin or silk. He frowned. He didn’t recall this particular piece of clothing. A cautious finger plucked at the material. It was clingy… definitely satin.

A moment later he tugged the material up, past his knees and took a seat on the freshly made bed. He gave a small sigh of relief when a pair of black boxers appeared from under the satin hem of his unfamiliar sleepwear. Apparently, his Alpha was not quite to the state of putting him to bed in the nude, yet. For the sake of his students and their innocence, he was rather hoping to put that off as long as possible because one crashing through his door -- uninvited -- _at stupid o’clock_ was inevitable.

Severus glanced up when the bathroom door opened and froze, realising just how suggestive his position was. His eyes dropped immediately to the floor, knowing he was practically enticing his Alpha. And, dear Merlin, his Alpha was only in a towel!

“Shower’s free, Omega-Mine.” Harry murmured, pausing only long enough to press a kiss to Severus’ forehead before he continued over to the small pile of clothing that sat on the chair Severus usually left his robes draped over. He frowned at it, not recognising a single article in the pile as either his own or his Alpha’s, and he’d taught the young man for six years, so he knew every possible combination of none-school-uniform clothing that Harry owned, despite himself.

As the towel started slipping, Severus’ sense of preservation kicked in, and he eased off the bed and through the door, into the bath. He only shut the door, instead of spelling it locked, leaving the possibility of his Alpha joining him just that _\-- a possibility_. He wasn’t stupid enough to do anything that might be construed as actively avoiding contact.

He used the facilities before actually bathing. Shucking his clothing, he stepped into the tub, toes curling against the water warmed porcelain in delight. Usually, when he stepped into the bath in the mornings, the bottom of the tub was frigid against the soles of his feet.

A quick twist of the knobs set the shower to work, and he held his breath, prepared for the first sharp shock of frigid water. He blinked in surprise when it was warm first off. The reminder that his Alpha had showered first had him ducking his head and pondering for a moment why he hadn’t heard cursing or a thump from here… the first time he’d dealt with this shower of a morning, the cold had knocked him on his backside, and he’d been cursing about it too. Albus had laughed himself silly when Severus had grumbled over breakfast that first morning -resulting in Severus never being wholly convinced that the headmaster wasn’t engaging in some elaborate long-term prank.

Reaching for the washcloth draped across the tap he rubbed the bar of soap through it before he began washing, starting with his neck and shoulders. The fact he could still detect traces of his Alpha’s pheromones on the cloth had a calming effect. He paused to sniff at the familiar scent of fennel, finding it even more attractive because of his Alpha.

He had settled onto the variant he currently used just after the Dark Lord’s fall. Switching from a more astringent scent that had roughened his skin and dried it out, making him even less appealing to most that came across him.

 The current formula softened his skin and allowed him to relax in his quarters. The fact his skin had become more touchable would be a side benefit for his Alpha. He washed thoroughly and then paused to peer at the muggle bottle of shampoo that was perched on the edge of the tub.

Snorting in amusement at finally having some explanation as to why his Alpha’s hair was always a wild nest, he reached for the glass bottle next to it and poured some of the concoction into his hand. He rubbed his hands together to encourage the reaction friction would cause.

The resultant blue fizz went into his hair, and then he absently massaged it into the line of hair leading from his navel and down to his groin before washing it away. He twisted the water off and then squeezed most of the drips from his hair before stepping out.

He stared at the closed bathroom door for several long moments and willed himself to open it once he’d pulled a towel around himself. He wasn’t sure he dared go out there right now. Without thinking he’d let his scent loose in the bath as he usually did. That combined with the trace of his Alpha from the soap was keeping his skin hot and tingling so he wasn’t sure he wanted to know what the combination would do to his Alpha when he caught it. It was one thing to prepare himself for his Alpha’s attention, it was entirely another to lose control so thoroughly that he drew it with his scent alone.

He let his gaze travel around the room, somehow mildly disappointed to find his Alpha wasn’t waiting in the room. He frowned at the towel now neatly folded on the chair and wandered over to it, unable to stop himself from reaching for it. He blinked when his Alpha made a noise to get his attention.

Severus blushed, realising he’d been caught with his face buried in a towel smothered in his Alpha’s intimate scents. He dropped the towel and ducked his head as alpha crossed the room purposefully but stopped just shy of touching him. He glanced down at his now empty grip, and Alpha slipped a finger into his hand as if to get his attention.

“Hey,” Harry murmured softly, he’d caught Severus’s scent from the kitchen, and he’d felt the desperation, it had drawn him like a niffler to a coin as the urge to do something about it had overridden all but his most basic functions. “I am right here,” he managed to keep his tone soft and his words slow as he turned carefully and tugged gently on Severus’s hand, pulling him to a seated position on the edge of the bed.

Severus reached for the towel as it started to slip and then paused, gaze darting up to catalogue his Alpha’s expression. He bit his lip as he spotted the way his Alpha’s breathing had increased. He slowly leaned back on the bed, using his hands to brace himself. He dropped his gaze to his Alpha’s chest, to avoid potentially challenging him.

“Severus?” Harry asked, resting a hand on his Omega’s shoulder.

“Alpha?” He so badly wanted to lean in close, but he didn’t dare, he was feeling far too vulnerable and now too unsure to push any further.

“Severus, I- what do you need?” Severus felt his breath hitch in surprise that his alpha would ask him something like that. It was doing strange things to his hormones to hear those words uttered with such care.

He twitched when his Alpha’s hand slid down his chest, but the noise he made was not protesting. He bit his lip and flushed in shame. He could feel his careful control slipping. This was why he hated the Season. Omegas were not…

“Shh. It’s all right. Just tell me. No judgement here, little one. It’s just us here.” Harry murmured even as Severus shifted on the bed as his Alpha advanced. He twitched again when Harry carefully slid a leg between Severus’ own.

Making another low noise, he encouraged his alpha closer by lying back, swallowing back his fear when the young man followed his movement. He still couldn’t quite accept that his alpha was so tall, it was genuinely intimidating and he didn’t think that was just because he was genetically disposed to thinking so.

The bed dipped as his Alpha crawled onto him. He stilled when his Alpha’s mouth settled against his throat even as he tried to bite back the strangled whimper of need. He had never been so grateful that the Season would be over within a week although he still wasn't sure he’d survive even that long with his dignity intact at this rate.  He whined and then sighed when teeth nipped at his throat, going limp at the display of total dominance.

When his Alpha nuzzled against the spot he had nipped, Severus shivered and tipped his head to the side, to give him better access. He shifted against the bed, legs sliding apart unconsciously.

“Is this what you want?” Harry asked, carefully settling his weight onto his Omega. He paused at the wash of Severus’ scent and then hummed when he also caught traces of slick. Blinking down, his Alpha seemed to consider several things before warm hands rubbed at his naked shoulders.

Severus let his eyes close, knowing his Alpha would do whatever he wished to him.

“Severus,” Alpha’s voice had turned hard, slightly louder, it made him jump, and his eyes flew open in surprise, “I asked you a question Omega, I expect an answer.” Alpha’s tone carried the kind of authority that instantly soaked Severus’s thighs with slick, and he wasn’t sure whether he was impressed or irritated that the change it made to his scent wasn’t answer enough. Even he could tell that he smelt like a backhouse whore and he didn’t want to think about it too deeply right now nor was he sure he was even competent enough to be able to.

“Please?” Severus managed, fighting to keep the whine out of his voice, suspecting any weakness he showed here would destroy him. His breathing increased again, and he bit his tongue to keep from whining.

“Tell me if you need me to stop, Severus. If you are uncomfortable, tell me.” Harry’s voice was firm, and Severus felt more slick trickle down his legs. He nodded. He wasn’t sure his voice would work and had no intention of trying to test it. Alpha leaned down and kissed the side of his neck, nuzzling in under his hair as his breath ghosted over the still slightly damp flesh there. It sent a spasm of pleasure through Severus, and he had to consciously fight not to squirm with the intensity of it. Alpha’s hand stroked down his arm and fingers wound between his own, it was such an odd movement he couldn’t help starting.

“It’s difficult sometimes, isn’t it?” Alpha’s voice was soft, soothing but there was still an almost sibilant hiss that kept Severus right on edge between fear and pleasure. “Making noise when no one ever listened before.” Severus had no idea what that meant.

“Squeeze once.” Somehow he knew what his Alpha meant, and his hand flexed obediently.

“Now twice.” Something about that movement felt familiar as he obeyed, it felt like an anchor. “When I ask how you are,” a pause to let him process the words, and to his shame, he actually needed it, “two if you’re ok, one if you’re not.” Severus managed a nod as he flexed his fingers.

 “If I take your hand and you don’t let go, I’ll stop anyway.” Severus whimpered at the thought as Alpha’s hand slipped out of his own for a moment and soft lips ghosted over his cheek and pressed into his mouth. He couldn’t help the low moan that slipped from him as the same hand tangled between his fingers. He was aware of his fingers flexing, of not wanting his Alpha to stop and that computed into actively trying to pull his hand away.

Alpha smiled against his mouth, and Severus almost felt the way Alpha relaxed, he wasn’t sure why but he felt the tension leave the body that had positioned itself practically on top of him. “Good, very good,” Alpha’s low praise sent another fresh wave of heat through him, and Severus’s lips fell open of their own accord as a confident sweep of Alpha’s tongue against his teeth parted them easily.

Severus got lost in the sensation of his Alpha kissing him and made a disappointed noise when the other man pulled away. He blinked at the amused smirk his Alpha was giving him. Severus wiggled slightly under his Alpha’s weight, enjoying the feeling of being pressed into the bed.

When his Alpha returned to kissing him, he blinked as a hand tangled with his own while the other tipped his chin back to let his Alpha deepen the kiss. He hissed when teeth sank into his lower lip but remained still.

He shivered when his Alpha’s tongue gently soothed the sting. His eyes slowly slid closed as the hand at his chin traced down his side, and he shifted slightly.

“Please?” Severus managed. Alpha squeezed his hand lightly, and Severus remembered that he was supposed to do something, for lack of being able to think of anything else he slipped his hand free and stroked up his Alpha’s arm; inviting him back into the kiss he’d cut off without a word.

“You like me touching you? Hmm?” Harry murmured as he sat up, and Severus managed to choke back most of the protesting noise as that tried to slip from his mouth. He reached out to pull his Alpha back down and then paused… he wasn’t supposed to demand _, just obey_.

Fingers tangled with his again and Severus twitched his against those of his Alpha’s as the other man leaned back down again. Severus blinked as Harry began leaving little nipping kisses on his throat, becoming open mouthed presses as they trailed over the scarring from the serpent bite he’d received the year before. The scarring was surprisingly sensitive, and Alpha was even more remarkably gentle with it.

“Bravely risking everything. You probably don’t think that… hmm? But you do. Even here, you trust me -- just enough -- not to try and fight, even though I have the feeling that if anyone else tried… this, you’d gut them.” Harry murmured, voice low, still trailing kisses.

Severus made an amused noise as he tipped his chin up and then jerked when his Alpha’s tongue swiped across the edges of the scar tissue. He shivered, not because it was unpleasant, but because the temperature sensation against the scar was still off, even months later. It felt cooler, anything did, against it.

“Okay?” Harry asked, breath washing against his neck, fingers twisting against his own. He flexed his hand and then let the fingers go.

Severus gasped when his Alpha slid back a bit and cloth dragged against his skin, sending pleasant shocks through him.

“Hmm.”

Harry shifted again, and Severus whined because the way his Alpha was positioned over and against him was unravelling the towel around his waist almost completely. Severus wanted to squirm, to feel his Alpha move against him. But, he also didn’t want to do anything that could be mistaken as protesting against Alpha’s wishes.

“You are shaking, little one.” Harry murmured and Severus bit his lip. “You smell fantastic, but you are shaking. All right?” Severus keened low in his throat at the question, he was shaking with want not with fear, he was shaking because he was fighting to stay in control and not wholly humiliate himself or send his Alpha running in the opposite direction with his desperation. He couldn’t make his mouth form the words. 

When his Alpha pulled back and slid off the bed, Severus couldn’t swallow down the cry of dismay. His hands reached out, and he snagged his Alpha’s wrist.

“No. Your head isn’t clear, Severus. This was a bad idea. Actually, it wasn’t an idea at all. Instinct is messing with both our heads. I can’t hurt you. And I will if I do something you later hate yourself for allowing when you couldn’t think straight.”

“Alpha...I...please.”

“Severus? You can’t manage full sentences. You, the man who could put down Molly Weasley mid-tirade.” Harry said, shaking his head, but not trying to pull away from the hand that circled his wrist.

“An Omega… does not show... himself wanton.” Severus managed, flushing in shame as he forced the words out. “An Omega does not… act the whore.”

“I don’t see you as such, Severus. However, if you wish… here… in your own rooms, to relax the rules that society deems appropriate? I won’t complain or even probably realise it.” Harry said, green eyes widening at that thought.

“Alpha… Omegas aren’t...supposed to want this.” Severus muttered, dipping his head even as his body practically flooded the air with that very fact. Harry cupped his Omega’s cheek softly and lifted his head gently, so their eyes met.

“When have either of us done anything just because we were supposed to?” He asked lightly, stroking a thumb down Severus’s windpipe softly as he spoke and Severus automatically dipped his chin to the movement.

 “You...rarely have.”

“Neither have you, Severus. You passed yourself to society at large as a Beta male.” He paused.

“Kingsley thought you were another Alpha.” Harry had almost missed that until it had sunk in -- Kingsley had assumed Severus had an Omega hidden away somewhere which meant he believed Severus had the will and the instinct to claim one. Harry was almost glad he hadn’t understood straight away what the comment had meant, or he might not have held back from using it against the Defence Professor.

“By hiding my very nature, Alpha. And… now…” Severus shook his head.

“Little one? I won’t judge you for something instinctive. There are times when Neville can barely deal with me -- because my instincts pull me too strongly. Is that what this is? An instinctive pull?”

Severus forced himself to nod, to be honest with his Alpha.

“Okay. Is it territory based? Are you comfortable with me being here? Inside your territory? Or do you want me to go --” The noise of abject distress that fell from Severus’ mouth stopped his Alpha cold, and the suddenly dire grip on his wrist re-enforced the impression.

“All right, not a territory issue then. Um… you want me to stay?” Severus nodded.

“Okay. In your quarters, or here? In the bedroom specifically?” Severus closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Alpha? May I… might…”

“Just tell me, Omega-Mine, as bluntly as you need to.” That Severus could do. An order was something simple he could follow.

“This became your territory, Alpha. These rooms, the bed, myself… all became yours when you claimed me. And… my instincts… are leaving me unsettled and anxious.”

“Why? If it is anything concrete enough to explain, that is.”

“You… were willing to allow your Beta to… to… have me. And you dosed yourself with a potion that was not needed or required. I am yours.”

“I don’t understand, did I do something wrong?” Harry couldn’t help the spike of anxiety, he’d been trying to give them space to interact and get to know each other while he moved to protect his family as best he knew how.

“Within the typical dynamic -- even factoring in a bonded Beta male -- Alphas refuse to allow a newly bonded Omega to leave the claiming bed for up to three days. Typically, past those three days, it... it's often a week before a bonded Beta is allowed anywhere near the Omega in question. I… have been… allowed to work, allowed to interact with the outside world, been sexually propositioned by your Beta… you allowed that… encouraged it...and you have more or less medically strangled your instincts…” Severus stared down at his hands blindly as the words tumbled out of him, his fear and insecurities laid bare, “I… am I nothing more than entertainment that you regret deciding to knot and claim?!”

“Regret?” Harry repeated the word, aghast, “are you mad? As long as I live I’ll never regret claiming you, but I want you healthy, happy, I want you to be you. Severus…” Harry wasn’t sure it was the right time to say this, but he couldn’t stand the sight of his Omega so broken.

“Damn it _, I claimed you because I love you._ I didn’t claim you to be nothing more than a convenient hole or a baby factory.” Severus was staring at him.

“I watched you, claw your way back from the dead…” Harry murmured, “there was a time I thought I hated you but the truth was…” Harry had never admitted this aloud to anyone, “I didn’t hate you, I hated myself, I hated that the one person that would be perfect for me? He was a loyal Death Eater that had murdered my mentor in cold blood. Even then… even with that horror freezing me solid… I still let you walk past me because I couldn’t bring myself to actually attack you properly.” 

“You…” Severus was suddenly happy he’d not tried to get off the bed because he was confident the only words that were echoing in his head were imagined, and his legs wouldn’t hold him if he tried to stand right now.

“You are mine, Severus. Not for society’s reasons. For my own. Does that make me a selfish bastard? Maybe.” Harry shrugged and let his gaze travel from where Severus’ long fingers still encircled his wrist.

“I-- you --” Severus shook his head slightly.

“Severus?”

“Yes Alpha?”

“Still want breakfast?” Harry asked, and Severus found himself nodding in agreement. Perhaps, after food, what he’d been told would make sense, or he could figure out if the suppressor were influencing his Alpha in odd ways.

“Come on then,” Harry tugged Severus to his feet and kissed him softly, “get dressed then, I’ll go lay the table.” He ignored the way Severus started as if to argue that it wasn’t his alpha's place to be completing menial tasks about the household. Neville had spent days trying to make Harry stop going to refill his goblet at lunch everytime it got low and still hadn’t won.

 

-

Harry couldn’t help the grin that split across his face when Severus stepped into the kitchenette and flushed furiously at the attention. He’d almost reached the table when Harry stepped into his path, and Severus almost took a step back in surprise. For a moment they stared at each other and Severus barely relaxed when his Alpha’s lips quirked into a reassuring smile even as his heart stuttered at the sight.

“Will you let me,” Harry started to say lightly, “let me take care of you a little bit?” Severus wasn’t sure how to respond to that and caught himself by surprise when he agreed readily. He managed not to flush too obviously when Alpha slipped an arm around him and led him forward with a hand in the small of his back. He watched Alpha sit, and it took him a second to realise what the man intended before he was pulled lightly by the hand to sit on his Alpha’s lap.

 _Dear Merlin_ , he’d never expected such intimacy. For a minute or so he felt like he was all limbs and couldn’t find a way to fit himself unselfconsciously. Alpha’s hand stroked the back of his neck soothingly until he relaxed and settled his head on Harry’s collarbone. He was still a little out of it and the close contact, even through clothing, was soothing. The non-verbal reminder that he was right where his Alpha wanted him kept too much tension from settling in his shoulders.

Squirming slightly, he shifted his hips and brushed his cheek against his Alpha’s chest. He paused when he actually felt his Alpha relax beneath him as he found a comfortable position in the other man’s lap.

Leaning around Severus Harry picked up one of the mugs which clearly contained coffee and handed it to his Omega, it was amusing to see how quickly Severus perked up when the first wave of it hit his stomach and dispersed into his bloodstream.

“Note to self, keep Severus in coffee.” Severus scowled over the rim of his mug, and his Alpha laughed.

Harry pulled the breakfast tray towards them and carefully levitated it onto Severus’s lap as a conjured cushion appeared under it. Severus frowned at it and put his hand out to stop it tipping. He wasn’t quite caffeinated enough to compute why, with the table right there, they had a tray of food.

His eyes flicked down to the pair of plates, both equal in size and portions. Alpha picked up a random sausage from the plate nearest him, and Severus felt himself freeze. Alpha fixed him with a confused look when he felt the sudden tension, and Severus carefully avoided meeting his gaze.

“Do…” He wasn’t sure how to word this even as Alpha half nudged him to reach for the other plate. “Do you intend I should…?” He had no idea what to do next. Alpha’s lip quirked slightly as if he were holding back a smile.

“Please don’t make me have to threaten to hand feed you,” Severus’s hackles jumped defensively at the thought, he couldn’t help it, he didn’t find the prospect of begging for food funny, “I value my fingers.” The silence hung between them. ”But I will make you if you start refusing food.” More silence.

 “Severus, eat before it goes cold and I have to set Neville on you.” If Alpha noticed the instant relief, he didn’t say a word about it as he built himself a sausage roll and broke the yolk of one of his soft eggs with the corner of the bread.

Severus glanced at their plates and then poked both of his mushroom caps with his fork and deftly transferred them to his Alpha’s plate. He blinked when his Alpha used his own fork to shift the black pudding over to Severus’ plate.

Severus then carefully followed his Alpha’s example, starting in on a sausage, knowing he’d probably only be able to manage a quarter of the plate if he was lucky. He worked around the plate, taking bits of everything, going back to the pudding repeatedly, enjoying the flavour even as his own nose wrinkled at watching his Alpha happily bite into and chew on a mushroom.

Returning his attention to his own plate, he shifted slightly, nibbling at the bread and dubiously frowning at his tomato… which looked squishy in the middle still. He darted a glance to his Alpha’s plate… he wasn’t sure if it seemed correct or not, never having seen it adequately prepared for his Alpha’s tastes.

“Problem, little one?”

“No, Alpha.” Severus denied, switching to the sausage again, not sure if he wanted to try the tomato now. He cut into his eggs next and wrinkled his nose in disgust when they were solid. But he still scooped up a bite and forced himself to eat it.

He immediately took a drink of his coffee after swallowing the bit of egg. Sitting on his Alpha’s lap enabled him to cut the shudder off before it could betray him. He paused, staring into the depths of his coffee as he realised he was using a spymaster’s tricks to lie to his Alpha. Severus swallowed hard. That was not a good omen nor a practice he wanted to reawaken, especially when it had taken him so long to break it in the first place. 

“The eggs are overdone, for my preference, and the tomato doesn’t…” Severus trailed off and prodded at it.

“Very good, Omega-Mine.” Harry murmured and he felt Severus sag against him for a moment before the older man straightened and returned to his breakfast. “If it is not to your taste, don’t eat it then. I always ask for more than most can comfortably eat, you order for me and the elves do it automatically.”

“But…”

“No. I’m not going to be insulted that you didn’t finish your plate. I know you are starting potions, Severus. You probably can’t eat more than a third of what is on here. Don’t push yourself to eat what you don’t like.”

Severus frowned, _his Alpha had deliberately ordered too much food?_ Even in a place like Hogwarts where the food was plentiful Severus wasn’t sure he could wrap his mind around that. “I didn’t know which bits you like and which you don’t, now I know to tell them extra black pudding and to get your eggs right tomorrow.” Severus had to bite his tongue to stop himself saying something, he couldn’t quite believe his alpha had caught him and spotted his preferences that easily.

“The Hogwarts elves have been preparing my weekend breakfasts for years, Alpha. This? Is an aberration, even for them.” He prodded at the eggs again and grimaced before swapping to the pudding.

“Hm…” Harry frowned questioningly, he’d never had a problem with Hogwarts food. “I wonder…” Severus waited patiently for his Alpha to act, or speak, or even just to blink. Harry snapped his fingers suddenly, and an elf arrived. Severus didn’t recognise this one but that wasn’t unusual, they tended to avoid him.

“Master is calling?”

“Severus’ tomato is incorrectly done, his eggs are wrong. Speak with a Hogwarts elf that has cooked for him in the past, so that tomorrow it is done right.” The elf’s eyes went wide, and her lip wobbled when she glanced at him. Severus wasn’t sure he dared say anything to either of them right now, he hadn’t intended to cause any upset, but the elf looked as if he’d signed her death warrant.

 “Hey, mistakes happen. It’s fine, just don’t let it happen again, all right?” Harry told her, and the elf stilled and bowed without a word. “And Winky, I want to see you back here serving lunch.” The elf’s eyes widened, and Severus very nearly spoke, _she couldn’t be that Winky, could she?_ “Without any injuries.” A beat. “I will be checking with Kreacher as well.”

Only once the elf was gone did Severus turn slightly, “Crouch’s old elf?”

“Yes. After the war? She needed a safe master. Somebody that wouldn’t hold being freed by Crouch against her. I don’t. I’m pretty sure there’s a cracked jar somewhere in her room where she deposits the sickles I pay her. I couldn’t talk her into galleons, the way I managed to negotiate with Kreacher.” Harry shook his head at the memory of Kreacher getting offended at the opening offer and the burnt onion soup for a week while he considered it.

“You… pay her?” Severus asked, staring at his bread instead of his Alpha.

“Kreacher wanted to know why I opened the bid at ten galleons a day and weekends off.” Severus blinked, he wasn’t sure he’d earned that much as a young professor, “Dobby told me once that’s what Dumbledore offered him when he came here.” Severus snorted softly, yes, that was exactly what Albus would have done after plying the creature with sherbet lemons. “I was so short on clean socks that I let him beat me down to a galleon a week and one weekend a month off, the Hogwarts elves got offended on his behalf too. Winky didn’t want to be paid at all, so she agreed to a sickle a week and one day a month off.”

“And Miss Granger… agreed to such terms?” Harry shrugged at the question.

“Kreacher and Winky set them, what could she say?” Harry returned. ”I pay all my free elves, Griphook doesn’t like it, but it’s not like I can’t afford it,” Harry added. “The family elves wouldn't take it, but Kreacher talked them into taking days off instead for me, so Hermione didn’t skin me alive.”

“Ah.” Severus wasn’t sure what to do with that information except to file it away for later consideration, “Knowing how formidable a witch she is, I imagine she is more than capable.”

“Severus? It’s Hermione, she could, she would, and she wouldn’t need a wand.” Harry actually shuddered for a moment, “There are enough books still at Grimmauld that she’d have detailed instructions if she wanted them too.”

“And the girl is mad enough to do it for _her_ justice.” Severus bit his lip, he had not meant to say that out loud, but Alpha laughed.

“Don’t get me wrong, I loved Dobby but he was the wrong elf for Hermione to spend time with, she got some bizarre ideas from him. At one point she was talking about using him as the figurehead for a house elf workers union.”

“That would lead to an elf revolt that would make the Goblin wars pale in comparison,” Severus muttered.

“Yeah. It would.”

“And Cuthbert wouldn’t appreciate having to cover new material…” Severus mused, the History professor was notoriously stuck in his ways and refused to teach anything that had happened after the muggle French revolution.

When his Alpha chuckled, Severus blushed and shifted on his perch and then abruptly stilled, going tense. He couldn’t believe he’d got so used to his Alpha’s scent that he hadn’t noticed _that_.

“Severus?” Harry asked, sending his plate easily towards the table with a flick of his hand. Severus maintained his grip on his coffee mug only because he did not want to spill it on himself or his Alpha.

“You are…” Severus couldn’t keep the shame at not realising from his voice as he spoke, volume lowering with each word, “aroused, Alpha.”

"I’ve had a hard-on for the last two months, it’s a good job the school uniform is robes- _frankly_." 

“The robes do… manage to save some embarrassment.” Severus agreed as he remembered his own school days, unwilling to shift again, now that he was conscious of the fact his Alpha’s arousal was pressing against his backside.

“Just because it’s there, doesn’t mean I have to do anything about it, little one.” Harry murmured. Severus dipped his head to acknowledge the words. He looked down at his plate again and then carefully set the cushion and tray aside.

"Do... you want to do something about it?" Severus managed, forcing himself to dare that much.

"Severus? I took that potion so that I'd have some control. Yeah, it’s uncomfortable, yeah, it makes me want to heave when I take it... but -- if you and Nev are safe? Worth it."

"What do you fear, if that swill is the better option?"

"You'd be pinned to the bed and probably fucked raw, Severus. I'd hurt you because it's still there -- an itch to take and claim and keep you under me." Severus almost let the wholly inappropriate and unacceptable sound of desire his Alpha’s words triggered slip from him. He knew that was his instincts toying with him, any other time of the year, with any other Alpha, and he’d have been reaching for his wand defensively.

"Then... academically, you are still in a possessive state, Alpha." Severus managed, swallowing hard.

“Oh?” Harry asked, lazy hand rubbing gently at Severus’ hip.

“Yes. The...reason an Omega doesn’t leave… the claiming bed… is typically the Alpha is too --” Severus broke off abruptly and hissed in a breath as his control slipped and his scent washed through the room, making him choke on his own lust.

“Too? What...Omega?”

“Too busy ensuring that… that his omega knows exactly his place.” Severus managed, closing his eyes to block out the room around him and gather back his control.

“Isn’t that what I’ve been doing?” Severus forced himself to breathe slowly. “Your place is wherever you want to be, and you’ve honoured me by letting me be a part of that. I’d be a right idiot to stifle who you are.”

“My place, Potter… is whatever you deem it to be. Apparently having breakfast in your lap is my place. Being… ignored… is my place.” Severus bit his lip to stop any further words from spilling out.

“Ignored? When? How? Tell me how I’ve managed that?” Severus closed his eyes as a gentle hand reached up to turn his face towards his Alpha.

“I’m completely yours, Alpha. Yet… it feels as though you made a mistake, and are doubting your choice.” Severus managed, unable to watch the disgust dawn on his Alpha. He let go of the mug when it was taken from his hands and heard it clatter against the table.

"Yes, you are mine. But I'm not a mindless brute in a rut either."

"Of course you are not... Is there any way that I may appeal to you more? Some... act... you prefer?" Severus stumbled on the offer, flush darkening his cheeks as he made himself ask.

“Severus? Open your eyes and look at me.” Harry said. Severus’ eyes popped open at the command. Those green eyes were largely pupil right now. “You are basically… asking…”

Severus forced himself to nod. He could barely put it into words… because _Omegas didn’t_. That rattling he could imagine hearing was probably his mother spinning in her grave that he’d let himself say as much as he had.

"I guess that answers a question I had then. All right, Omega-Mine. I think we'd be more comfortable in the bedroom?"

Severus slid from his Alpha's lap and blinked when the man came to his feet, snagged his hand and started leading him in that direction.

He twitched when the door shut behind the pair of them. But he straightened his back, "What... can I do, to please you, Alpha?"

"Get out of those clothes, little one. I don't want to accidentally destroy any of your stuff." Harry murmured, already unfastening his trousers and letting them fall, pushing his pants to follow. He dragged off his shirt and then smirked when Severus' dark gaze dragged down his bare body and then back up.

The fact the older man licked his lips as he eyed his cock was a pleasant rush for the Alpha. Severus seemed to realise that he had been given an instruction seconds later as the tee came off and pants and trousers soon followed.

"Bed."

The whine that tore from the Omega's throat shocked Harry, as did the speed with which his lover obeyed, dropping onto the bed and turning so that his back was to his Alpha, arse in the air, legs spread.

The posture was perfect submission, and Harry drew a ragged breath and closed his eyes. That... that was gorgeous. But... not what he had expected.

He eased onto the bed and blinked when he realised his Omega's scent had gotten away from the older man again. He reached out a careful hand and pressed it against one of Severus' hips.

"Severus... you don't have to...offer me this."

"I... please?" Severus managed to ask. And Harry reached up to tip his Omega's face towards him. Those eyes were dark and wide, and seeking some form of approval.

Harry sighed and let the tight grip on his own instincts slide a bit, allowing himself to take pleasure in the pose, his Omega stretched out and offered.

Knee walking himself quickly into position, he trailed his hands along Severus' back, listening to the little noises his Omega was giving, breathing in the thick scent of lust and the tracery he was getting of slick.

When Severus moaned lightly as a hand trailed across the curve of his arse, Harry did it again. He got the same noise. When he used both hands to gently ease apart Severus' cheeks, he hissed in a pleased breath as slick dripped out.

"Okay, do you want fingers first?"

"However you wish..." Severus managed. Harry nodded at that. Certainly fingers first... just to make sure he wouldn't hurt his omega.

Harry grit his teeth as he slid a finger into the tight, slick, heat. When the grip tightened on his finger, he wiggled it a bit. The needy sound Severus gave showed Harry he was going about it the correct way.

He pulled his finger loose and pressed it in again. Another needy sound was his reward.

"More?" Harry asked, eyeing the dripping hole that was being offered.

"Please." Severus managed, hands tangling in the bedding.

Harry pulled his finger away and rubbed himself against Severus' slick hole.

"If this hurts, tell me to stop," Harry said. He waited for the nod and then began pressing forwards.

The noise Severus made was low and cut off abruptly. Harry froze. Severus snarled, and Harry bit down on a laugh.

"My little one is pushy. Very good, Omega-Mine." Harry praised before he sank into his Omega.

He stilled, waiting for Severus to relax around him, revelling in the tight vice that was his Omega. He felt the breath Severus took before muscles relaxed, and the older man became pliant. Harry drew his hips back and rocked forward.

On the next thrust, Harry blanketed himself across Severus’ back, reaching a hand under his lover’s body to find the man’s interested cock and slowly begin matching his body’s pace to that of his hand.

He pressed a kiss to Severus’ shoulder and hissed in a breath when he felt the muscles squeeze around him. “Good… faster or slower?”

He saw Severus shake his head, the sentence obviously not making sense. Harry picked up his pace slightly and then slowed it back down. He watched Severus' shoulders flex as the man made a low, frustrated noise.

“Faster or slower, Severus?” The question still didn’t make sense, Severus didn't care how fast or slow his Alpha moved he just wanted to feel something.

“Harder.” The low grunt slipped from him before he realised that he was moving into dangerous territory.

Harry listened to his Omega hiss when he tightened his grip on the other man’s cock and then whine when he pulled a hand away to reach comfortably back and gather up some of the slick that had run down the older man’s thigh.

Returning his hand to his Omega’s cock, he kept his pace steady but took the suggestion he’d been given, putting a bit of strength behind his thrusts. He smirked when he heard the low moan of approval. Harry was learning that, from Severus, the groan was practically wanton and he wanted to hear more.

Thrusting again, he made a noise of approval in his throat as Severus leaned back into the move. When Severus did it again, Harry started to figure in his Omega’s movements and then groaned when a slight wiggle pushed him in a little bit deeper, and his knot began to swell. 

He slid a hand between them, not wanting to tie himself to his Omega until after the other man had spilt and relaxed in case he tore something. He heard the sharp breath Severus gave when he felt fingers brush against his hole.

“Easy, little one. I just don’t want to end… this… too… soon.” Harry managed, twisting his hand deftly around the head of Severus’ cock. He thrust again, using his own restraining fingers to keep himself from knotting. Severus moaned and wiggled back, trying to encourage it.

“No. I won’t rip you apart. Shh. Easy. That’s it…” Harry felt Severus’ hips stutter and the older man’s cock swell in his hand. Harry repeated the twist of his hand and bit his lip as the noise shifted from whine to cry and thick, wet heat spilt over his fingers.

He held his Omega steady as he shuddered through his climax. He blinked when Severus made a noise of distress as he pulled carefully out and rolled onto his back.

“Come here, little one,” Harry said, and Severus obeyed, dark eyes flicking down at his still aroused Alpha. Harry went to wipe his hand off on the comforter and paused when Severus’ hands caught his.

Harry stilled, and then gasped when Severus dipped his head and began licking his hand. Harry just stared, amazed and turned on by such an act. It wasn’t something he would have ever expected from Severus.

When Severus let go of his hand, it wasn’t as sticky. Harry blinked as he watched the older man lick his lips and smirk. Harry knew he was still processing what he’d just watched happen when Severus crawled up to him, effortlessly straddling his hips.

Warm fingers gripped his cock, and Harry hissed his pleasure, right before he realised what his Omega was about to do. His eyes went wide, and his hands reached forward just before Severus brought himself down.

Harry hissed out a curse as his cock was enveloped by his Omega impaling himself. His hips attempted to rise in instinctive response, but the suddenly tight fingers on his shoulders stilled him.

“God and Merlin…” Severus managed, shifting a little bit. Harry made a noise of agreement. He groaned when Severus moved again, that felt good. He blinked when he felt Severus lift mostly off him, and then drop down again, shifting back and forth as he moved.

Harry knew when the other man had found the right position because his back curved and he gave another of those beautiful moans. He made a low noise in his throat when his Omega began to move a bit faster, squirming a bit as he felt the way the slick hole was just barely catching on his knot. The little pleading noises that were falling from Severus’ mouth were intoxicating because they were encouraging.

Harry brought his hands to his Omega’s hips to help steady him, and he groaned when the next three little jolts almost forced his knot home. The one after that sank Severus completely onto him and Harry allowed himself to moan, his body finally getting the trigger it needed to let him spill readily into his Omega’s spasming, tight hole.

When he felt another wave of stickiness across his stomach and chest, Harry sighed and gathered his Omega close, smoothly rolling them onto their sides, knowing it would be a bit of time before Severus would be able to pull away from him.

“Incredible, you know that, right?” Harry managed before he placed a kiss on Severus blushing cheek and cuddled … cleanup could wait, holding his Omega was more important right now.


	19. Chapter 19

“Alpha?” Severus seemed slightly nervous as Harry glanced up from his transfiguration homework, they had both decided that they needed to be somewhat productive today, and as amusing as watching and listening to Severus bemoan idiot students as he marked their homework was- Harry did actually have things to do.

“Yes?” Severus stood slowly, flexing his hand slightly to clear the cramp from holding a quill for too long.

“Would you be…” Harry waited, “adverse to a little background noise?” That was not what Harry had expected his Omega to ask, and he found himself slightly curious as to what Severus meant. The potions master gestured to the cabinet in the corner, and Harry frowned in question, he’d not actually noticed it before. “I have a fairly extensive record collection…” That was surprising, Harry hadn’t expected Severus to be the type. “I am sure there is something to your taste.”

“May I look through them?” Harry asked, setting his book aside. Severus nodded, and Harry got to his feet and wandered over.

“My… music taste is rather generic for a man of my age….” Severus seemed so self-conscious all of a sudden. 

Harry began tracing his fingers across various sleeves. He paused on one. The envelope he pulled loose was cream coloured with black lettering in a smart little script with a woman and man standing in an almost ballet pose.

Severus took the album and blinked. “This… happened to be one of your mother’s favourites.”

Severus slipped the record free from its sleeve and set it onto the turntable.

“I didn’t…” Harry wasn’t sure if it was a good idea for Severus to play it or not but Severus had already set it going. Harry was caught off guard by the usual hiss-pop and then the marching band beat that followed.

 He watched the tension slip from his Omega’s shoulders and instantly didn’t care too much about the sound until he realised he was tapping the table with his free hand. “Wow, catchy,” Harry said, surprised at himself when Severus finally got the music down to a volume they could comfortably talk over.

“Lily prefered… certain songs more than others on this album. We could agree perfectly on one or two.” Severus smiled briefly and then settled again at his desk, taking up his quill. They settled back into a comfortable silence with the music between them, and Harry was just getting back into his essay when he realised how familiar the songs were.

“Hey.” he was so surprised he hadn't realised he’d shouted.

“Yes?” Severus didn’t seem amused at being interrupted, but Harry was still too shocked to notice.

“I know this song.” He hummed along to a few bars of the music finger waving as he tried to place it, “Aunt Petunia used to tend her plant pots to this song.” Severus’s irritation turned to a hastily coughed back laugh at the mental image of Petunia watering plants while dancing to “Don’t Stop”. Suddenly, how much Lily had hated it made perfect sense if Petunia liked it.

“Your mother hated it, and I think I finally know why,” Severus smirked. “Petunia was the type to play songs incessantly…”

“I really can’t imagine Aunt Petunia as a teenager…” Harry muttered as he stood and picked up the empty sleeve carefully, “I can’t decide if she was more like Hermione in the first year or Malfoy in third?”

“Miss Brown.” Severus supplied after a moment's consideration of his Alpha’s yearmates, “an airheaded little girl who had never suffered worse than a broken nail.”

“Lav’s not a bad person,” He couldn’t help automatically jumping to her defence, even if he did think the same- or had until she’d joined the DA in their fifth year, “but yeah, I see what you mean… never seen anyone cry so much over a rabbit, Vernon would have made me stew and watch Dudley eat it.” He added absently as he read the track listing and frowned at the release date. The song changed, and Harry caught himself nodding along to the new beat- he knew this one too. “How old were you when this came out?”

“We were in our seventh year.” Severus supplied, this album had coincided with the first time he’d gone home expecting not to have the trace and the scrambling with the ministry to stop them expelling him for helping his mother around the house with magic.

“But… that memory, of that day by the lake…?” Harry trailed off and looked away from his Omega, knowing he was treading into dangerous territory even bringing it up.

“Your opinion of your mother is so low?” Severus asked softly, Harry barely heard him over the music. “She would not have thrown a decade of friendship away over one word uttered in anger.”

Severus hesitated. “Especially when she realised what was really happening that day.”  Harry glanced at him askance. “Hormones.”

“I wouldn’t blame it all on hormones… I’d have been pretty shaken myself to have been jerked upside down like that…”

“Your father was only acting as expected.” Severus really didn’t want to get into this, if no one had told Harry that James Potter had been an Alpha, then he didn’t want to be the one to break it to him, “even if he was a little young for anyone to realise at the time.”

Harry frowned. “My existence… and refusal to make myself… unobtrusive… irritated him.” Severus had to be careful how he worded this.

“And the methods he used in pursuit of your mother…” Severus had wanted, more than once, to castrate him for daring to even think he could treat Lily like that. It would have been one thing for him to pursue an Omega like that but to be so disrespectful to Lily… Severus had never been stupid enough to think he could take James Potter in a duel before he’d attained majority and his full power, but he had spent a lot of time dearly wishing he could at that age. “Offended me.” Harry actually made a sound like he agreed from what he knew.

“Sirius once told me a story; Dad walking around breathing pink fire… they were sure it was Mum who did it. Apparently, he’d tried to sneak into her dorm while she was in the shower. There were so many hexes and curses on him after she was done that even Madam Pomfrey couldn’t sort it all out.” And that had been before Severus had slipped the hair loss potion into Potter’s goblet if nothing else it had broken him of that irritating habit of sweeping his hands through it for fear he’d take a great clump when he lifted his hand away.

“I recall that particular incident. Your mother was livid. Didn’t speak to him for a solid month. Partnered with me for every class we overlapped, and would have let his lungs burst from him trying to catch her attention between classes.”

Severus stopped talking abruptly as the song changed again, “this one…” he murmured softly. “Songbird.” He supplied lightly. Harry half smiled when he noticed Severus swaying slightly to the track as he stood in front of the player. “She called me soft when I cried...” Severus laughed to himself and swiped at the strange glassiness that had been collecting in his eyes. Lily had teased him rotten for how easily music affected him, but it had always been in fun, and half the time she reacted almost as strongly as he did. The song ended, and he flipped the record with practised hands, he could have done it from his desk and used magic, but for the more valuable records in his collection, he didn’t like taking the risk of magic and the electronics taking an unexpected dislike to being combined like that.

Harry looked up as the next song started, frown marring his features. Severus paused and reached for the record, “No, don’t… it’s familiar somehow…”

“Wait for it.” Severus advised half with a smile, “you’ll know it in-” he watched as the iconic sound of the start of a Formula 1 race played out and his Alpha snapped his fingers in realisation. Severus had always had mixed feelings about this one, technically he enjoyed it and appreciated the lyrics, but it was bound up with memories of good times and bad where his father was concerned.

“It’s the _Grand Prix_ song!” Severus half laughed and nodded. “Do you watch it or?”

“Not anymore, no television.” He gestured vaguely. The truth was he hadn’t watched it since he was a teen and it had become unbearable to spend that much time in his father’s presence- it was sad, really, especially as it was one of the few things they’d bonded over before Severus had attended Hogwarts.

“Vernon used to take over the main tv, I swear that’s why they got Dudley one for his bedroom,” Harry muttered, “he never did understand it.” He shook his head with a sigh. “It was one of the few things I was allowed to sit and watch sometimes.” As long as he was quiet, had finished the gardening, and mainly so Vernon had someone to bark orders at when he wanted a drink while Petunia was taking her weekly ‘me time’ bath. When Harry looked back on it, he couldn’t help laughing, it was ludicrous in hindsight that those afternoons were some of the best he remembered in that house. Severus didn’t answer as he returned to his seat and resumed marking. He wasn’t sure he had any response to that which wouldn’t either enrage his Alpha or start a conversation he had no wish to have. They were both so engrossed in their respective work neither noticed when the music stopped.

-

Severus only glanced up when he heard the clatter of an ink bottle hitting the floor. The chink-clunk was familiar enough from his own long bouts of grading. He nodded to himself when he realised it was a ‘no spill’ bottle and then he followed the potential trajectory to realise that his Alpha was asleep, dark head nodding over whatever assignment he had been working through.

Severus shook his head in fond amusement. His Alpha pushed himself harder than he ever had when there had been a Dark Lord looming over them all. He rose from behind his desk and approached the sofa that the younger man had commandeered to do his work upon.

Severus raised an eyebrow as he realised his Alpha was sleeping even through his approach. He kept a wary eye on the Gryffindor as he reached for the Slytherin green throw that lay across the back of the sofa. He draped it over Harry’s sleeping form and stepped back, smirking slightly as his Alpha curled tighter under the basketweave pattern.

Severus called softly for Winky, and the elf appeared with a quiet pop. “Tea, please. If you have permission to serve one such as myself?”

“Master has not forbidden, Omega Potter,” Winky said before she vanished again with another small pop. Severus pondered what that might mean for him before he returned to the appalling assignment laid before him.

Winky returned with a tea service for one in royal blue china that bore the Prince Crest, which was accompanied by a matching sugar bowl and cream pitcher. A small assortment of savoury snacks piled onto a plate was also provided. Severus nodded his thanks at the tea but eyed the treats warily. His gaze flicked to where his Alpha slept. He took up the tea and sipped carefully, watching with silent amusement as Winky straightened the parchment scrolls, located the quill Harry had been using and laid it next to the book that had slid to the floor that she had returned to the table. The inkwell joined book and quill before she popped away again without a word.

Severus returned to his grading after pouring a fragrant cup of tea for himself and doctoring it to his liking. He sipped cautiously and closed his eyes, savouring the flavour. The red dipped quill danced gleefully across the parchment he was reading.

_You have clearly grasped that this essay is on the topic of moonstones and not subcontinental climate phenomena! Do not write you essays when tired and you will find your spelling improves. Grade -A_

He turned to the next piece absently, stifled a yawn, and was halfway through reading the introductory paragraph when the same elf from earlier appeared in the room. She seemed intent on speaking to Alpha but hesitated when she realised he was still sleeping. She turned cautiously to Severus.

“Master’s Beta is sending a message to master, but the master is sleeping!” Severus watched as the Elf's ears drop sadly and he genuinely felt for her. He’d had his fair share of contact with both incarnates of Bartemius Crouch and had nothing but pity for her inability to realise that she had done nothing wrong. Severus stood slowly and approached the sofa in an attempt to placate the elf.

“I will wake him and see he takes the message.” He told her gently, and she perked right back up. “That is acceptable?” The elf, Winky, nodded enthusiastically and handed him the folded parchment before disappearing with a crack that made Alpha jump out of his sleep with his wand already in hand. Severus made a point of not making any sudden movements as his Alpha glanced around, spotted him, and visibly relaxed.

“How long was I sleeping?”

“No more than an hour at most, Alpha. Message for you.” Severus extended the parchment to him and waited for the other man to take it.

Harry took the parchment and eyed it warily. “Thanks,” he turned it over and stared at the seal. “‘Ts from Nev,” He mumbled as he slipped the wax seal open.

He watched as his Alpha skimmed the message and then got to his feet, green afghan pooling from him to be idly snagged and dropped back onto the sofa as he moved towards the desk and the plate of snacks sitting there.

“May I?” Harry asked, gesturing towards the plate. Severus blinked.

“Of course, you need not ask when it is yours, Alpha.”

Harry paused, hand suspended over the plate, a dark shadow passing through his eyes for a moment. “Wrong, Omega. I won’t make you ask for food. If you want something? Ask an elf for it. And eat it. However, I will always ask if I am about to take something that is yours.”

Harry handed over the note. “Postscript for you,” he commented, and Severus glanced down at the parchment.

 

_Har,_

_I know you- so I told the elves to sort your meals out, so you don't forget to eat. You know Kreacher will say if you don't finish your food too. Don't make me have to come down there tonight._

_Love, Nev._

_P.S. Tell Severus he doesn't get out of chewing today either! - Beta prerogative to enforce it._

Severus passed the note back and glanced at his Alpha before he made himself pick up a small meat pie. He took a bite and blinked in amazement. This was not standard Hogwarts fare. He automatically licked at the bit of gravy that tried to run down his fingers.

The noise his Alpha made had him going still, eyes flicking over to the other man. He watched Alpha shake his head and take two steps back. Severus put the pie back down. “Alpha?”

“I’m just going to get myself a cup…” Harry said before he turned away and slipped into the kitchen. Severus took a breath and then stared after his Alpha.

Severus shook his head and returned to the pie, making sure to avoid any of the essays still spread out on his desk. He pondered the ‘get out of chewing’ remark but decided it was unimportant.

Severus blinked and frowned when Harry came back into the room holding a serviceable plain mug.His nose twitched once, and he hid a grimace. Even his mum, at their lowest times, spent the few extra pence for something better than Tetley’s and still ended up saving by not having to use two tea bags in every mug. He pushed the sugar bowl and small pitcher of milk towards his Alpha in silent suggestion.

When Harry’s eyes widened in shock, Severus’ head tipped to the side.

“Aunt Petunia never let me doctor it. I got used to straight.” Harry shrugged.

“I would have thought that even Tuney Evans had more pride in her taste than… _that_.” Severus said, staring at the mug.

“She always had _Whittings_ for them and guests, _Tetley’s_ were always on offer at the shop, so I used to hide the big boxes in my cupboard.”

“You had a cupboard in the kitchen for your own-” Alpha was already shaking his head.

“No, I mean the cupboard I slept in. Under the stairs. Used to hide the tea bags under my bed with whatever else I had managed to squirrel away for when they locked me in there, or I wasn’t allowed to eat.” Severus stared, he’d heard the rumours but assumed at the time it was just tabloid hyperbole because the boy might have been sent to bed without his supper once or twice after some childish infraction or other.

“My letter was addressed to there, you know? It’s what made them give me Dudley’s second bedroom.”  Severus stared at the blasé admission. He’d been raised in a two-bed mid terrace house, one thing that he had never wanted for was space in his own bedroom.

“I did not.” He managed tightly. Petunia had given the offspring of that great lump Dursley two bedrooms and left her nephew in a cupboard… He set the half-eaten meat pie down absently, appetite suddenly gone. He knew precisely what those cupboards looked like and even in the most prominent houses they were not fit for human habitation.

“They… did the best they knew?” Harry said, shrugging slightly but reaching for the sugar bowl and taking a single cube.

“Petunia, married… Dursley, did she not?” Severus was quietly seething as he glared at his Alpha’s mug.

“Um,” Harry frowned at his Omega’s reaction, “Yeah…?”

“Dursley was a business partner,” Severus snarled out, “I presume the house… Detached? Gardens, never a car older than five years in the driveway... Most likely some ostentatious badge.” Harry blinked.

“Um, BMW, I think? Every three years. Might have been a… I want to say, Merc... but maybe Audi? Not like I was ever allowed in it to know. I Remember shining the badge with the rings on it with him standing over me to make sure I didn’t scratch it once.”  Harry carefully neglected to mention the two weeks in the cupboard when Vernon had decided that he had scratched it. The black eye had faded before he’d been allowed out.

“And you truly believe they could do no better by you than _a cupboard to sleep in_?” Harry wasn’t sure why Severus seemed so riled up by this.

“Dudley once locked me in the shed for… two days.” Harry paused, as if checking his memory of the time,  “It was how I figured out the roof leaked. Three days later I was up a ladder with a loose hammer and some nails.”

“Loose hammer?” Severus asked uneasily, already dreading the answer.

“Had to make sure the head didn’t come off. Not like Vernon would have let me touch the good set.”

“And you completed the task?”

“Mostly. Hammer broke, split in half after the second to last shingle. Tore up my fingers getting it finished with just the head. Managed not to get blood on the linens either.” Harry didn’t mention the blistering sunburn he’d gotten or the fact he’d drank water so fast he’d thrown it back up when he was finally allowed to do so.

Severus felt the colour draining from his face as he listened, his own father had been hard but never in that league of cruelty. He’d been pushed to learn DIY and work the garden, Tobias had even forced him into a summer working with someone he knew in a garage because apparently, no son of his was ever going to grow up and not know how a car worked or the difference between a screwdriver and a spanner. It had been easier to go along with it than try to explain to his father that the time spent watching his mother bake bread and crochet would probably serve him better in adult life.

“Jesus wept…” it took a lot for him to invoke a deity he’d never been convinced was more powerful than the average Hogwarts fifth year.

“I survived it, and Voldemort. I’m still here, aren’t I?” Harry sipped his tea and blinked. “Huh, the sugar helps.”

“Barely,” His alpha frowned in question, “to both questions.” Severus clarified smartly. Right now he didn’t care what his alpha thought; the idea of a child being put through that was filling him with the kind of rage he usually reserved for pushy Alphas and overzealous jobsworth ministry officials. No wonder Albus hadn't told him the truth, the Headmaster would have known that Severus wouldn’t have stood for it. He’d turned on the Dark Lord for doing less damage to this child than it sounded like Petunia had gotten away with.

Severus only shook his head and nudged the plate of treats towards his Alpha. He nodded when Harry took one and started nibbling at it. Both men glanced over when Winky popped in bearing two trays of food.

“And yet...” Severus snorted softly to himself, he still had the letter somewhere in which Lily had gushed unrelentingly about her angelic little newborn nephew, “Petunia, you bitch.”

“Oi, that is my aunt you’re talking about.” Severus didn’t even flinch but glared right back, and his Alpha actually smirked at him for having the audacity. As far as Severus was concerned speaking the truth was as good a reason as any to break the honeymoon period, and see precisely how brutal his Alpha could be, now his head was clear of the initial burst of hormones claiming had flooded his system with.

Severus waved his work to the side and allowed Winky to place both trays on the desk pointedly, waiting for the order to send the food back for daring show such brazen insolence.

Harry merely sighed and grabbed the lid on a tray, pulling it off. He glanced at it and nudged it towards Severus before taking the other. He started eating with a shrug while Severus stared.

“It’ll get cold, and then I will have to listen to Winky complain, and Neville yell. I’d rather avoid that.” Severus didn’t move.

“Eat.” Alpha’s tone was somewhere between mild annoyance and frustration. Severus reached for the fork automatically. “Ok, before it becomes a _thing_ , can we just, _not_ …” Severus had no idea what his Alpha was talking about. “Please don’t make it a thing that I have to tell you to eat at every meal, _I’m barely capable of remembering to eat myself_ …”

“Alpha… tradition dictates --”

“Oh no, do not quote that claptrap back at me right now. You are perfectly capable of eating, I don’t have to give you permission to do so. Is that what this is? Some traditional _pureblood_ rubbish?”

Severus managed a nod. His mother’s chosen method for making sure he knew how to comport himself at meals had included a wooden spoon over his knuckles every time he reached for a plate without permission or everyone else at the table had begun to eat. It had worked almost too well. For too many years Albus had made a point of asking someone to hand Severus a random foodstuff at every meal or doing it himself just so he wouldn’t sit there with an empty plate in front of him. It had been a joke that the potions master knew far too much about tasteless poisons to eat first at any table. The banter had been less dangerous than the truth, so he had never denied it.

“Is it something idiotic that says you can’t eat without my permission?” Harry outright snarled when Severus dipped his head.

“Then chuck it. Or consider this instead, you have blanket permission to eat whenever whatever… I may gripe if I end up with crumbs in bed, but it will more likely be Neville after our heads in that case.” Harry said with a roll of his eyes.

“I… obviously displeased you. Why would you… reward such behaviour?” Severus managed. He twitched when the fork in his Alpha’s hand was slammed onto the desk next to the tray.

“Food will never be a reward. Food just _is_. It’s a _basic right_.” Severus wasn’t sure what shocked him more, the fact that his Alpha had yet to take a swing for him when he was apparently incensed by what Severus had said or the things he was actually saying. It took him a moment to fit the declaration into its broader context.

“They denied you access to food often enough that you developed a habit of hoarding it…” Severus had never thought he could describe someone as chewing aggressively before. “Ah.” Severus couldn’t believe that he hadn’t considered this. It had not even occurred to him. He took a deliberate steeling breath and sighed slowly. There was no way for this conversation not to end painfully.

“Where I am from…” there was the gentle way of wording this, and then there was the way that left no space for misunderstanding, “the only regular supply of food for children, where the free school meals for those whose parents were deemed too poor to provide for them.” Alpha was staring at him like he hadn’t fully grasped the concept. “And for the parents a scrap of unleavened bread from the hand of a Priest on Sundays.”

Harry stared, and Severus shook his head slightly, “Even then…  such a thought -- denying a child food, when it was available… is untenable.”

“And yet? You expect me to treat you like a child, Severus.” Harry responded, not touching his tray, leaning back to focus on the discussion. Severus snorted bemusedly. That wasn’t what he’d meant. He’d been trying to point out that abject poverty still hadn’t been a good reason to do that to a child.

“Of course not, I would not dare be so presumptuous to assume such favour...” he declared hotly.

“Meaning?” Harry asked, hints of a growl tracing the word.

Severus almost backtracked at the tone that was asked in, he hadn’t expected a simple observation to make his alpha snarl at him like that.

“Alphas, like muggles, tend to value their children.” Severus started to say. “You- You would never treat a child of yours -- even an Omega child -- the way an Alpha treats a bonded Omega.” That would constitute child abuse. Severus was quite glad alpha hadn’t noticed the way he’d stuttered. He was trying not to inflame the conversation right now.

“I wouldn’t treat a dog the way you seem to expect me to treat you!” Severus blinked. He only expected what he had been taught was normal.

“Because a dog would bite, Alpha. An Omega knows better.”  Harry stared, agape, for several seconds when he realised that Severus hadn’t said that to be facetious- _he meant it._

“The _fuck_ do I look like to you?” Severus wasn’t sure how to answer that and wisely chose to keep his mouth firmly shut.  “I asked you a question…” Severus shook his head slightly, there was no way on _God’s Green Earth_ he was answering that question when the only words that had occurred to him were ‘your father.’ He was not suicidal.

Severus remained still when his Alpha rose from his chair and rounded the desk. He merely watched as the Man-Who-Defeated bore down on him, knowing he’d courted this outcome entirely independently but still not quite sure how. He had thought the discussion moved safe waters, he hadn’t even taken a tone when stating what he was sure they both already knew about how this dynamic worked. He couldn’t quite grasp where it had turned, the insult to his alpha’s Aunt worth a slap perhaps but then he wasn’t sure how they had gone from discussing tradition to alpha bearing down on him like this. He’d held back any harsh retorts and stuck to the bare facts.

Harry stopped inches away, and Severus dropped his gaze so that he could keep the other man’s hands in view. He knew he’d still see the strike coming, but he wouldn’t even consider avoiding it. He’d pushed and goaded, somehow, and now he knew just how far he was going to be allowed before there would be consequences. Even with his eyes pinned to them, Severus missed the flash of movement that meant his Alpha’s hands were gripping his shoulders tightly.

“Look at me!” he obeyed, of course, he obeyed. “Why the fuck won’t you fight back! This isn’t natural, it’s not right!” Severus hadn’t realised exactly how physically strong his Alpha was until his shoulders shook forcefully. “Do something! Fight back!”

Severus remained still, preferring to live. Though he wondered if he weren’t going to make it worse for himself when his Alpha finally let his temper genuinely slip. At this point, he wasn’t sure that there was anything he could do. If he did fight back, he was dead, but doing nothing just seemed to be driving his Alpha further and further into a rage when it should have placated him.

Severus shuddered when his Alpha shoved him away and then turned, stalking rapidly from the rooms. The door thudding shut behind his Alpha finally allowed him to bring a trembling hand to his face. He slumped against the chair and forced himself to take a shaking breath. He was most likely going to be regretting the day he was born in very short order if his Alpha was anything like the Dark Lord. And he still wasn’t sure what _exactly_ he’d said that was _so_ wrong.

-

The portrait door swung open as if it had been hit with a powerful blasting curse, two first-year girls screamed at the sudden noise before they scattered out of Harry path.

“Harry!” Hermione’s shriek drew him to the corner table where she and Neville were probably debating the same homework he’d finished hours ago.

“Har?” Neville’s tone was cautious, he’d obviously taken the split second opportunity to assess his alpha’s body language and knew better than to present a direct challenge.

“You didn’t actually think we’d survive twenty-four hours without wanting to kill each other, did you?” Harry watched as his Beta lost all colour, he missed the low gasped ‘no!’ as Neville swayed and took an unsteady step backwards.

“What happened Harry? Where have you been?” Harry was still to blinded by rage to realise that Neville plainly hadn’t told Hermione where Harry had spent the night.

“Dealing with a snarky bastard, actually.” Harry sniped, dropping into a chair and glaring towards the fireplace. He glanced up in time to see Neville put a hand on Hermione’s arm.

“Keep him here, I need to- just keep him here.” Neville didn’t give her chance to ask where he was going or why he felt the need to go haring off like that.

“Harry?” Hermione asked, flicking up privacy spells with a few practised moves. Harry waited for his ears to pop before he forced his face neutral.

“My Omega is proving… difficult.”

“Your- Harry tell me you didn’t…” Hermione looked a little green at whatever thought had popped into her head. Harry didn’t answer as Hermione clapped her hands over her mouth.

 “You… in the classroom, you said, but that’s...” Harry blinked. “You… did.” This was why it was easy to deal with Hermione, she could deduce anything from a random set of circumstances and a few facial expression and most times she was completely right.

“But,” She looked him up and down critically as if assessing for damage and her jaw dropped open as she let her hands fall from over it, “there’s not a mark on you.”

“You expected there to be?” Harry stared at her coolly, rage still simmering behind his eyes.

“Well, I didn’t expect him to let you just…” She gestured vaguely. “Not without a fight anyway.”

“You and me both,” Harry sniped, “and that’s the problem.” Hermione frowned. “He’s just... “ Harry waved his hand vaguely in front of his own face, “nothing there, just… like he doesn’t see himself as himself.” Hermione stared blankly, and Harry waved his hand again. “ _Not the droids you’re looking for_.” Harry supplied and Hermione gaped as she finally understood what he meant.

“Harry… you remember that one book I lent you? About how Omegas fold themselves to fit cultural expectations? How they will become whatever their Alpha seems to need?”

“That’s not what he’s doing ‘Mione. If he were, I wouldn’t be here.” Harry leaned forward in the armchair and buried his head in his hands. “What I need is him, exactly as he is, and that’s not what he’s doing.”

“Not what you need Harry, what you seem to need. What he thinks you want, so basically whatever he’s been told all his life to expect… which given his age and background… sounds like that’s exactly what he’s doing.” Hermione told him matter-of-factly.

“What?” Harry wasn’t entirely sure Hermione had said that sentence in English.  Hermione rolled her eyes then dove into her bag for a minute before slamming a book down in front of the table between them. Harry stared at it.

“Great.” He deadpanned. “Homework.”

-

Severus stared at the wall opposite his desk, not quite seeing it as he struggled to process what he’d just been through. He saw the door open, but he wasn’t consciously aware of the presence of the Beta. He wasn’t sure how many times his name was called before he responded. He jumped when a hand waved in front of his face with fingers clicking.

“You with me, Omega?” He didn’t even think to snarl, of course, his beta had the right to be that familiar.

“Yes- I,” he blinked rapidly and stared, “…I enraged him.” Beta was staring at him, concern evident.

“Did he..?” Severus half shook his head absently. “Any injuries?”

“None, But…” Severus watched beta visibly relaxed and realised that the concern had been for him. “I enraged him.” He couldn’t think what he’d done wrong and felt as if he was sitting in a fog. A hand waved in front of him again.

“Can you focus on me?” Beta was kneeling in front of him, and there was something inherently wrong with that, but Severus just couldn’t _think_. He felt like he hadn’t slept in a month. “Professor.” Severus barely reacted and twitched. “Do you get like this often?” Severus blinked without looking at the Beta.

“Minerva said... a mind healer…” he scoffed absently, “she is yet to find anyone with sufficient skill in occlumency to be able to take me as a patient…” He’d retorted that he’d see a mind healer if she could find anyone who could occlude well enough to know when he was lying- she’d taken it as a challenge and had yet to meet it. He didn’t suppose it mattered anymore. If he was able to perform to a standard his Alpha found acceptable, nothing else would be bothered with. He’d been traumatised at some point, obviously, but that didn’t really matter. Alpha didn’t need a balanced omega- just a pliant and fertile one.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Severus sighed.

“I… have no idea.” He still hadn’t managed to pinpoint what exactly he had said that Alpha had taken such issue with.

“Talk me through it, then, see if that helps us work it out?” Beta seemed much more relaxed now he’d realised that Severus hadn’t been physically harmed.

“He… I insulted his aunt…” he’d expected that to get a stronger response than a smirk. “He took no issue.”

“He’s probably called her worse than anything you said.” Beta’s quip sounded off. Severus blinked and hid a frown… _had he drifted again?_

“Omega?”

“Beta?” Severus responded, realising that _he had._

“Down, standard non-punishment pose.” Beta’s voice was firm, and Severus obeyed at once, sliding out of the chair, taking a few steps away from the desk and dropping to his knees, head bowed, wand set on the ground before him, hands behind his back. The fact that relief rippled through his mind had him allowing his shoulders to sag for a moment. _In my absence, you defer to him. That was what Alpha said. That made this acceptable._ He brought himself back into the proper pose without prompting.

“Walk me through this, Omega. Where do you think the conversation turned?”

“Traditional response, Beta. He commanded I not ask for his permission to eat. He was adamant I not be treated like a child. I am already aware he does not treat me as an Omega.”

“My apologies, this,” he gestured vaguely and was surprised when the movement was much more violent than he’d intended.

“So you insulted his aunt… and then…?” Beta prompted. Severus wasn’t seeing how repeating it all back would help right now. It didn’t really matter what he’d done, he’d enraged his alpha, he’d pay the price eventually regardless. _Yet here?_ He knew the rules. Beta asked, and he responded.

“He… became irritable when I expected…” Severus frowned. “I have no idea what I expected.”

“You have traditional training.” Severus wasn’t sure if that was a question or an observation. He didn’t respond. “That was a question, Omega.”

“Yes Beta, very.”

“Enlighten me?” Beta’s tone had softened and turned kinder, and it was helping Severus stay grounded.

“My mother was a pureblood daughter from an old family,” Severus murmured, “her last contact with the magical world was long before I was born.” He could almost imagine beta nodding even if he hadn’t looked up to see it. “She used the 1912 edition.”

“And she taught you what she thought was still the _public standard_.” That definitely wasn’t a question. “I take it that by now you’ve realised that Harry isn’t a traditional Alpha.” Severus nodded, “From what you’ve told me, what do you think set him off?” Severus had been thinking about that.

“I…” He forced out a low breath, “Perhaps he expected some kind of apology for the insult to his aunt…” Severus’ wasn’t sure if he was asking or musing. He heard Beta sigh heavily and promptly decided to keep his mouth shut. He knew exactly how uncomfortable this had to be for the young man, to have a professor on their knees and comfortable there before him, it wasn’t like he seemed to have had any more than the standard pureblood education to even know how to do this.

“He was angry because Harry is… he’s unusual… his family… they didn’t treat him well. Did he tell you?”

“Some, Beta, enough to raise my ire in his defence.” beta actually made an amused sound.

“Ever the Head of House…” Neville murmured slightly, he could just imagine how Severus’s instinct might have reacted to hearing about his Alpha’s childhood, “somehow he came out of that both knowing that it was completely wrong what they did to him, and with his heart completely untouched by it.” Severus wasn’t sure what that meant. “You saw what he was like last year, he makes sure everyone else eats, everyone is warm, comfortable before he thinks of himself. What he knows of tradition wouldn’t fit on a postcard.” That… actually explained a lot. “And what he cares about it wouldn’t fit on _a postage stamp_.”

Severus maintained a cautious silence.

“I’m saying this because I think he’s assumed you already know… he’s been in love with you since he was fifteen.” Severus felt his blood run cold. That was impossible. “Don’t think he realised himself until the year later, but we were his dorm mates, we knew. We also knew he was far too focused on everything else in his life to do anything about it. Then the war and Gryffindor betting pool assumed that everyone who had it on Harry, Ron, and Hermione had to be right when the news came that the three of them were on the run.” Beta stopped and slumped in a chair, Severus took a risk and glanced up and found Beta smiling slightly at him.

“So when they got here, and somehow he and Ron hadn’t… _None_ of us believed it, it was only in the weeks after that I worked up the nerve to ask him. Harry always viewed Ron as a brother. Apparently, that’s what stopped them. By then it was obvious he was obsessed with you, every day at your bedside waiting for you to wake up.” Severus hadn’t known, no one had told him. “But he just, the minute he knew you were ok he backed off. It was weird, we all just assumed he’d decided you were a Beta and he was going to make you an offer so I was surprised when he approached me and we… settled. He got round to telling me he’d picked up your scent. Tortured himself for months about it, didn’t want to offend you, I think.”

Beta paused to give Severus a chance to let that sink in. “He asked how to approach you properly, and I had no idea what to tell him when someone overheard us and assumed he had his eye on another student- he knocked them out for daring to suggest he’d ever actually chase an Omega.” Severus managed a weak smile. He’d heard about that. Apparently, Potter didn’t care that the boy he’d pummelled had been two years younger and had declared that he’d have done worse if he’d have thought to go for his wand. Minerva had not been amused.

“I fail to grasp…” Severus didn’t have to finish the sentence.

“Harry loves his family, he doesn’t just do the _distant head providing for basic needs_ thing. He loves you, and i’m telling you, he will absolutely cherish you if you let him.” Beta bit his lip almost nervously. “And he won’t care how many children you carry for him, either, _he fell for you-_ not what you’ve been trained to offer him. He’s more of a _renaissance_ Alpha like that.”

Severus stared.

“I- impossible.” Beta raised an eyebrow at him. “There is no such thing…” beta’s lip quirked, Severus didn’t find it funny, “that is a children’s story, a fantasy…” like muggle girls and their magical Disney castles with charming princes. There was no such thing as a renaissance Alpha, only a bedtime story for omega boys who had yet to grow out of useless fantasy and accept their reality. His mother had been kind, she scoffed at the idea and disabused him of the notion before it had taken root when he’d been a child- she’d had no time and less patience for lying to him.

“Didn’t you notice? Harry doesn’t have the word impossible in his vocabulary.” Severus blinked, and then stared, “Don’t say it to him, you’ll just confuse him.” Severus couldn’t believe Beta was joking at a time like this.

-

“Chapter three Harry, traditional dynamic,” Hermione told him.

“I skimmed this bit, don’t need it- not relevant.” And it had made him more uncomfortable than last week’s defence homework.

“You do now.” Harry sighed and settled himself down to read. “That’s his age group, that’s what he would have been trained in.”

“Trained?” Harry frowned.

“His mother, Harry, she would have known from when he was a baby- or did you think those extra bits just magically appeared? She’d have prepared him his whole life for being claimed.” Harry bit his thumbnail absently. “And if she were a pureblood she’d have taught him the standard traditions, she wouldn’t have known anything else.”

“I prefer the older ones myself, they make more sense.” Harry sniped. Hermione fixed him with a questioning look. “You’ve read this?” Her expression turned impatient. “So why am I reading it, you can just recite the important bit you think I missed in a minute.” She glared. “You can’t tell me you don’t see sense in the archaic traditions.”

“Harry, that’s not how things are now,” Hermione said slowly, “I know what you mean but-“

“Do you agree then?” Hermione shrugged without committing to an answer.

“It’s a miracle, a man bearing a child, with the instinct to mother and heal and comfort like they do. And we turned it, they’re treated like dirt when _we used to worship them_. We turned that beautiful natural softness that protected our children into slavery and made them _thank us for it_.” Harry was struggling to keep his voice down. “There’s a renaissance movement Hermione, and I think they’re right, we need to stop all this petty squabbling and weak posturing. Bring the packs together and remind Alpha men what it was like when their families and omegas came first, instead of trying to fit ourselves into a mould wizards cast for us.”

Hermione was staring at him.

 “You know there’s no such thing as a fully human alpha or omega, but wizards destroyed that history until these instincts are all we’ve got left. They do that a lot I’ve noticed- when they want power. Tearing other cultures apart to get it. The goblins, the house elves, vampires, centaurs, giants, the packs.”

“Harry!” Hermione cut in, scandalised. “Be careful what you say.” Harry fixed her with a contemptuous look.

“I’m not saying anything that’s not in that book. All I’m saying is that no _jumped up bunch of purebloods_ are going to tell me how to run my life.” Harry snapped. “And I’m not going to bow down to their rules just because they brainwashed my Omega before he was old enough to walk. That’s not what I fought a war for.”

“So what will you do? You can’t just make him stop being like that, it’s his nature and all he knows.”

“No, it’s not.” Hermione blinked. “We call fear their instinct, but it can’t be. Otherwise, why am I like this? Why does Draco let Ron work, why did Ron’s parents teach their sons the way they did? Ron’s not broken, if he was, I might have killed Malfoy. Bill doesn’t grovel, George isn’t a violent bloke. Even Ginny- she’s not exactly traditional either, is she?”

“So what will you do about it, Harry?” Hermione’s voice was hard because she’d had to ask twice. Harry shrugged.

“I’ll show him a better way, give him someone safe to rely on… he’s a smart bloke. Eventually, he’ll figure out that I’m not like they are.” Hermione softened when Harry gestured to the book. “I hope.”

“You may want to get your own copy of that book then. And put it somewhere prominent, the way some muggles do a Bible. The very front? Always has a record of births and deaths.” Harry paused for a moment, considering, and then he smiled.

“Book that old? I’ll check with Griphook, we might already have a copy somewhere.”

-

Severus wasn’t sure how long he knelt there, Beta didn’t seem in any hurry to make him move until he was good and ready. It was soothing, in an odd sort of way, just to be allowed to stop and wait for the next order.

“Beta,” he shouldn't have had to ask but he had to make some kind of effort to make things right, and he had no real idea where to start without advice. He had to take a moment to remind himself that this was what a Beta was _for_. “How…” he still felt a little lost, like one wrong word, might bring the fragile peace of the room crashing down on top of him, “how would you propose I…” Severus knew he was treading dangerous waters with this question. “Make amends?”  Beta’s smile dropped slightly, and Severus had to remind himself that he was expected to seek guidance.

“You don’t,” Neville murmured softly, “you let Hermione talk some sense into him and accept his apology when he comes to you.”

It was a _very_ good job Severus was already kneeling, the idea of his Alpha apologising to him for anything made him dizzy. Dizzy enough that he broke pose and used his hands to catch himself. The apology was on his lips before his hands touched the stone or he’d finished mentally berating himself for slipping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Severus is tired, he's also a bit of a hypocrite... so before anyone points it out, that was deliberate :)


	20. Chapter 20

“Seriously Hermione, I don’t want or need to read this.” She glared at him, and Harry sighed. “I’m never going to be a traditional Alpha, so I don’t need to know or care how they chose to run their packs.” Harry sat back in the armchair and ran a tired hand through his hair.

“Actually, Harry? You do. If you know how they work, you can use it against them, and keep your omega safer. You just don’t need to actually _use_ it.”

“Alright, so I might need it..” She glared. “Ok, ok, I need it. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t make my skin crawl.” Hermione’s expression held no sympathy and Harry sighed. “I still don’t get why it’s that hard, so he probably grew up on that version.” Harry indicated the table that stated the differences between editions of the popular book, “But these things seem to update every twenty years or so, times change... why hasn’t he kept up?” Hermione rolled her eyes, and a tea set appeared on the table between them. Harry absently poured Hermione her tea and pushed a cup towards her before pouring his own.

“The same reason that eight years not being your family house elf hasn’t broken you of making sure everyone else is fed and watered first?” She told him pointedly, and his hand froze on his mug.

“That’s just being polite, Hermione,” she set her mug down pointedly without drinking, and Harry turned the page in the book. His own tea momentarily forgotten. 

“Drink your tea, Harry.” He really hated when Hermione started on the mind games.

“What?” He’d been reading something about the older editions and how there had been a time when omegas didn’t even speak to anyone outside of their immediate dynamic. It had put him right off the plate of biscuits between them to think that there had been a time when Ron wouldn’t have been able to so much as write to his own parents or brothers once he was claimed.

“Drink your tea.” Harry scanned the table warily as he tried to match Severus’s behaviour to it and finding himself looking a lot further down than he expected to.

“It’s cooling,” Harry muttered as he read. “It has to do that when you don’t add milk like a savage.” It was an old joke between them, and Hermione made a mildly amused sound as sipped at her own tea. Harry turned the page again and reached absently for his mug.

“Of course it is.” Harry glanced up.

“What?” Hermione was staring at him expectantly. “What?” She shook her head after a moment and glanced at the mug he had halfway to his mouth. Harry followed her gaze, expression questioning her sanity. “What?!”

“Nothing,” she sipped her tea, “you really are a hypocrite, you know that?” Harry glared and took a careful sip of his own tea.

“No I don’t, you might be crazy though.” He half shook his head at her. Whatever point she was making had utterly gone over his head, and he had no interest in trying to chase it down.

“I love you, Harry, but you really are a bit blind, aren’t you?” Harry tapped his glasses and Hermione giggled at the deliberate misunderstanding. Harry might have joined in, but the page he was staring at was making him feel like he never wanted to smile again.

-

The cold of the stone on his hands shook an old memory loose, and Severus dipped his head, using his hands to keep himself still. He couldn’t believe it had taken so little to make him break protocol so spectacularly, his mother would have kicked his teeth out if he’d done that as a boy and he would have thanked her for the reminder. Severus wasn’t aware of Beta moving until he felt the hand on his shoulder and had to repress a pre-emptive wince.

“Easy, you’re alright.”

“I meant no disrespect Beta, I-” the low shushing stilled his tongue, and a hand under his arm stilled him.

“You’re ok, come on stand up before the cold sets your knees off.” Severus wasn’t sure how to obey that and stay within the parameters of acceptable behaviour. It took him a moment to decide to just follow and ignore the niggling doubt that this was _not right_ as beta handed him his wand back as if it was nothing to him to do so _._

Beta pushed him into the chair, and Severus fixed his eyes on Beta’s chest as he slipped his wand up his sleeve. “Did you two actually eat?” Severus wasn’t sure Beta would consider the half a mouthful of meat pie he’d managed a meal. And on consideration, he wasn’t sure Alpha had eaten anything at all.

 “I’m going to take your telling silence as a ‘no’.” Severus might have laughed if he wasn't mentally tallying all the reasons Beta had for complaining to Alpha later.

Beta pushed the untouched plate of food towards him and flicked his wand, even non verbally cast Severus recognised the warming charm on the food. “Eat.” Severus glanced up nervously, the dynamics of this conversation were becoming convoluted, and the boundaries of acceptability had long since been crossed.

“Go on, you said it yourself, he said you don’t need permission. So eat.” Severus tugged the plate a little closer to the edge of the desk warily. “And even if he hadn’t, he knows better than to argue with me about things like that.” Severus wasn’t sure he wanted to know what that meant.

They sat in silence for a while as Severus picked obediently at the plate.

“I’m going to go back up to the common room, talk to Harry.” Severus stilled. “No wonder he was freaking out when he came up there. _Nineteen-twelve._ Bloody hell.” Severus winced self-consciously. “ Gran trained me on eighty-six, the Weasleys raised their sons on seventy-five, I think? Ron still dips his head, and Draco has to remind him not to since the public standard caught up.” Severus nodded absently; he had seen the more modern versions and made a point that there were always copies in the Slytherin common room for the students to study or peruse, even if he was somewhat horrified at how _lax_ they had become after the mid-century addendum had been released.

“Harry’s... he doesn’t like it at all. He ranted for an hour about the eighty-six version being too harsh, and that was after however many summers he’s spent with the Weasleys over the years.“ Severus finally understood.

“Little wonder he was enraged when I…” and then the consequences of what he had just heard set in and his heart dropped. His mother had drilled him so hard that even as an adult he’d never broken that early training; he’d spent a lifetime wearing those traditions like armour and doubted he _could_ adapt to the newer editions without having it beaten into him. The realisation must have shown in his expression.

“He won’t hurt you.” Beta seemed so sure, it was unnerving. “He’s not the type, much... “ All Alphas had a capacity to harm and slip into a rage or lust-driven violence, so Severus wasn’t about to accept Beta’s word on that easily. “Plus, _I_ won’t let him, and I’m only the first person in a long line who is more than willing to defend you _even against him_.” That didn’t make Severus feel any better. He was an Omega; he shouldn’t need protecting from his Alpha, he should have been obedient and good enough that his Alpha didn’t slip into those kinds of rages at him. “You saw Malfoy threaten him, two corridors away there’s a dozen of so of-age witches and wizards who you’ve basically been a surrogate parent to.”

Neville knew what he might do to someone who threatened McGonagall, what he _had_ done in her defence because she’d been his head of house and he got the impression that Severus had always been much more involved with his Slytherins that Minerva had ever been with the Gryffindors.  When he realised Severus wasn’t going to answer, he moved to stand. A sharp tapping on the window made him jump, and Severus indicated it. Even if the owl was for him, he wasn’t just going to take delivery without permission to do so.

“Parcel for Harry from the solicitors,” Neville commented absently. “I’ll leave it here he can get it when he comes back down.” Neville assumed that it had been sent here because someone at the legal office had realised that it was the only place where Harry receiving a parcel that size would remain a private fact, so it made no sense to take it back up to the common room with him.

-

Harry knew his Beta’s scent as well as he knew his own these days so when Neville stepped back into the common room before he’d gotten anywhere near Hermione’s privacy charms, Harry knew his Beta had returned. He couldn’t get any sort of taste for a mood, but he could just about make out traces of Severus on Neville, well, that explained where he’d run off to in such a hurry.

“How is he?” Harry asked without preamble.

“Well, you didn’t tear his head off, so that’s good,” Harry sighed at his Beta’s observation. “I got the gist of what happened, you need to know, the idea that he’d made you mad, it wrecked him.” Harry glanced up in surprise, he hadn’t expected Severus to be that severely affected, that was why he had run-- to give his omega some space and himself the chance to rein in his temper when he’d realised that Severus really didn’t understand what had made Harry angry in the first place.

“He’s… Nev, did you actually talk to him? He’s... “ Harry glanced down at the book he’d been pouring over, “I think his mum used the nineteen thirty edition?” Neville threw himself into a chair as he greeted Hermione and poured himself a cup of tea. Harry noted the way the plate of biscuits was nudged closer to him and fixed his beta with a half amused glare.

“Severus told me you didn’t eat Harry, don’t make me drag you to Pomfrey for a potion again. You know I will.” Harry grumbled and picked up a chocolate bourbon.  “And his mum used nineteen twelve Harr. He just told me…” Neville stopped for a second and Harry watched his Beta’s own words finally penetrate and sink in, _“_ _Merlin's beard_."

  
Harry just closed his eyes. "I was pretty sure it would be something like that, Nev.” Neville frowned. “He didn’t talk to Kingsley at all yesterday, even when Kingsley spoke to him directly…” Harry steeled himself for the answer even as he asked. “What am I walking back into when I go down there?"

  
 "Now, keep your shirt on, but... he dropped for me. At first? I thought he missed hearing that it wasn't punishment... But it was the only way I could get him to focus and talk without either throwing up or passing out in panic, Harry."

Harry fought the urge to snarl something about boundaries at his Beta for a moment as the instinct to protect Severus from that kind of treatment bubbled up inside him.

“He was that badly… wow, I thought I was giving him some time he needed away from me.” Neville glared.

“Harry, you’re his Alpha, if he needs time away from you, then you need to check him for a confundus charm,” Neville muttered. “He’s trained to defer to you in _everything,_ I don’t think he’ll function long without you around him.”

  
“Boys? Who can find me a copy of _that_ version so that I’m up to date, because _honestly_ if the two of you are sitting here gaping over the year, I need to know what I’m going to be throwing quills at you for.” Hermione just glared, and Harry managed an amused smile. That was how they’d all taken to showing displeasure with one another during their stay in the tent -- throwing uncut quills at each other.

 “You mean the nineteen twelve edition or the current public standard?” Neville asked. “I have the eighty-six and seventy-five editions you can borrow, If I don’t know it by now I never will…” He commented wryly, “Gran made sure I knew both, eighty-six only became the public standard last year- You know how purebloods are, Uncle Algie made sure I knew the older versions too just because it takes us forever to move with the times.” He quipped.  
  
“I have a copy of the eighty-six, Neville. Harry? You really _do_ need to get your own copies… apparently of the older version too, just so you can understand _where_ he’s coming from.”  
  
“The Weasleys used Seventy Five, ‘Mione. So I guess I need three?” Harry glanced towards Neville who sighed.  
  
“Harr? Are you going to use Eighty Six or function on Seventy Five?”

“I have no idea, right now I’m more worried about how Severus will react to me using either of those if his training is so out of date, I don’t actually want to scare the life out of him by pushing him to change too much too fast.”

  
“Then get the entire set, Harry. Start with the edition Severus’ training comes from, then move to the one after that, then the one after that until you are at least functionally working from the 1975 version. If he can manage that much…”

“That much? I don’t think I want to know how Severus was trained if there’s so much difference you think he’ll struggle to change it.” Neville sighed.

“Harr, I’m telling you now. You won’t function on anything before nineteen seventy-five, you won’t take his wand, and you won’t hex him as a punishment. Trust me on this. You need to get him at least to that as fast as we can or there are going to be a lot of people accusing you of brutalising him.”

  
“The fuck I’d hex him!” Harry snarled, coming out of his seat. Neville merely pushed him back down as the rest of his words registered with his Alpha. Harry dropped into the chair, stunned. “Brutalising? Why?”

“Harry, they only stopped officially recommending the cruciatus curse as a --, and I quote --   _‘tool for correction of errant Omega’s’_ in the nineteen fifty version… and that was only because they learned the hard way that you _kind of_ need an Omega mobile if they’re to be able to get kids into an air raid shelter before bombs start falling.”  
  
“That curse has been illegal since --” Hermione started, voice rising with every word.

“No such thing as human rights for Omegas, Hermione, _this is what you need to realise._ There still isn’t a law that protects Omegas from being killed by their Alphas when they get old, or sick, or just _wind them up._ You’d do more time in Azkaban for twisting an Owl’s neck than killing your own Omega.” Harry dropped the half-eaten biscuit he’d been nibbling on back to the plate with a clatter.

“ _Jesus Christ_!” Harry hissed. “That’s sick!” Hermione had gone a little green too. “No wonder he’s so jumpy.”

“Who’s Jesus Christ?” Harry blinked at his Beta, sometimes he forgot how different their cultures were.

“Muggle God figure. Curse equivalent to Merlin.” Hermione supplied, she was staring hard at Harry her tone had turned threatening in an instant. “Harry, if you hurt him…”

Harry _glared_ at her.

“What exactly do you take me for? _Voldemort_?”

“Of course not!” Hermione declared. “But you do have a temper…” Harry growled.

“I’m not going to kill him or torture him! I’m not a psychopath!”

“You need to tell him that.” Neville cut in smoothly. “Because right now he has no idea what you will or won’t do. He expects you to correct him when he makes you mad, and he’s been trained to expect when he does something you have to correct that it’s going to _hurt_. And right now? All the potential infractions are building up in his head. He’s probably wondering where the tipping point is, and just how bad it’s gonna be.” Harry set his jaw stubbornly to Neville’s words and yanked a fresh roll of parchment from the pile on the table.

“You handwriting is better than mine,” Harry said and handed Neville a quill. “Start writing.” Neville stared but shifted forward to lean on the table.

“He can and should eat without asking whenever he wants to.” Neville blinked. “Write it, Beta. _Now_.”

  
“If this is how you treat Neville and the Professor has seen you snap at your Beta like that, no wonder he’s flinching…” Hermione sniped, glaring across the table at Harry.  
  
“Ms Granger? This is about as vicious as my Alpha gets. If he starts screaming, I just walk away. Of course, our Omega doesn’t realise he can _do_ that, Harry. You will scare him witless.” Even as Neville spoke, he was writing what Harry had said.

“You don’t need that written down, do you?” Harry demanded, and Neville shook his head as he finished the sentence. “Good. Next one. No is a complete sentence in this family. And it means ‘No.” Neville nodded and started on the next line. “That means you too,” Harry added darkly, he wasn’t about to allow for any misunderstanding here.

 “Harry, if I ever say ‘no’ to you --  just assume I’m dead,” Neville quipped. Harry didn’t laugh, and Neville sighed. Alphas and their tempers, it was more comfortable just to ride it out.

"He can dress _however the hell_ he wants within reason for the weather and whatever he’s doing. Although I’m retaining the right to veto anything so old it nearly gets him killed and get him a new replacement.”

 “Language, Harry.” Hermione reproved, Neville paused in his writing and glared at the beta woman.  
  
“Eh, point... he may try to take points off, fix that for me?” Harry murmured, pausing to picture his Omega’s face on reading that as he’d verbally worded it.

“He may dress how he pleases within reason to the context of the climate and expectations of his activities on any given day?” Neville asked, and Harry nodded, much better. “But will accept replacements for any items that Alpha deems inappropriate due to wear?”

“That’ll do. And you’ll do the same.” Harry added pointedly as he remembered how Neville had argued with him. His Beta sighed.

“Would it be quicker for me to assume that all of these rules apply to myself and Omega equally, Alpha?” Harry nodded without missing a beat.

“Yeah, and you, _plural_ , don’t need my approval to buy anything or use the silver keys if your own accounts won’t cover it.” Neville blinked, he still couldn’t quite believe Harry had done that.  
  
“Why are you stressing that, Harry?”  
  
“Because my Omega still seems appalled he has his own account.” As Hermione went to open her mouth, Harry held up a hand, “No, not one I gave him… one he already had.”  
  
“Oh,” Hermione said, blinking. Harry nodded.

“Of course he was, Omega’s don’t have bank accounts. Even if they do work, you heard Kingsley, the money gets redirected to the Alpha.” Neville commented. Hermione made a disgusted sound and Harry gestured to her pointedly. Neville held up his hands in mock-surrender.

“Anything he owned before I claimed him is his, that’s his quarters, his bed,” Harry sniped pointedly, and Neville fixed Harry with a look, he’d thought they had already had this conversation, “His library, record collection, whatever, all of it. It’s his not mine. And yes, that includes the bloody _Prophet_ too.” Neville sighed but wrote it anyway. “And if I ever try to take his wand off him, I expect you or him to hex me six ways from Sunday because I’m telling you like I told him, it’s _not_ me. All right?”

“Harry, he has to trust you to take his wand…”

“Well, he’ll have to make do with trusting that I won’t take it. End of discussion.”  
  
“Actually…” Hermione started, flipping through the book that still sat between her and Harry. She found the relevant passages and pushed the book to Harry. He skimmed it, and his eyes snapped up to her face.

  
“Oh _fuck_ no.” Neville leaned over to look at the section and nodded.  
  
“She’s right. And the edition he is trained on? He will give up his wand as soon as you so much as tell him to fall into the correct pose. It’s _that_ bad, Harry. He put his wand at _my_ feet earlier, and I’m not you so…” Neville gestured vaguely, and Harry sighed, burying his face in his hand for a moment.

 “What about… if you specify ‘outside of punishment’? That way, under no normal circumstance would he surrender his wand?” Hermione suggested.Harry tilted his head at Neville and tipped his hand towards Hermione, silently asking if the idea had merit. Neville nodded slowly.

 “Should work.” He muttered and wrote it down.

 “And while we’re on the topic of punishments, I don’t care what he was trained on, I _won’t_ curse him, or hex him. _Ever_.”

 “Harry,” Neville tried to reason with his Alpha.

 “No, Nev. That’s my line. I won’t cross it. He’s not my live-in duelling dummy, and I won’t do that to him. If I have to ‘ _correct him’_ ” Harry lifted his fingers and made air quotes mockingly, “it won’t be in public either. I’m not into humiliating anyone for kicks.”  
  
“Harry? What if you and he want to duel, to keep in practice? The way you, Ron, and I did at the Old Place?” Hermione asked, leaning forward.

“If I’m taking his wand off him while I punish him, it’s not so we can spar, is it?” Harry sniped. He didn’t like the thought of taking Severus’s wand off of him at all, and the idea was making him edgy; the notion that they might be attacked and Severus left defenceless, It chilled him to the bone.  
  
“Okay, something just ran down your spine, Harry… tell me?” Hermione asked, apparently familiar with his expression.  
  
“All three of us are war trained, yes?” Harry asked Hermione, she nodded.

 “Give me your wand. Now.” Hermione stared at him as he held his hand out to take it. She shifted away from him in her seat, and her hand fell to her wand defensively.

 “Are you mad? We’re in an open common room, anyone could come blasting in here…” Hermione trailed off as she realised that she had just proven Harry’s point perfectly.  
  
“That instinct right there. It's even deeper in him. _That_ is why I can’t be comfortable with it.”

“The instinct to please you runs deeper Harry, he _needs_ to trust you with his wand. He needs to trust you to keep him safe when he’s defenceless. Or how else do you expect him to have stress free pregnancies when he can’t move to defend himself, and he’s relying on you to do it?” Harry stared for far too long.

 “That’s what he meant…” Hermione tilted her head in question. “We talked about this, he said that -he said… ‘ _if I can’t trust you then I have no use for it anyway_.’” Harry stared at his beta, “He seemed so… horrified that I wouldn’t take it. I just assumed it was a _thing_ but-”  
  
“Fix it after this is done. If you go haring off down there right now, this won’t get done, and you’ll manage to make him have another freak out in another way that’ll have Winky throwing things at you.” Hermione interjected, and Harry nodded once, remembering a brownie that had been flung at his head when he truly managed to upset the house elf… he’d laughed afterwards, and Winky had been horrified at herself… but it had proved to her that ‘Master Harry’ wouldn’t hurt her.

“All right, Hermione plug your ears, you won’t like this next bit,” Harry muttered. Hermione leaned forward and raised an eyebrow at him. He glared. “I mean it.” She didn’t lean back. “Fine, what do you know about _conjugal rights_?” Hermione pulled a face instantly, and Neville actually blushed. “Just to specify, in case that _no_ rule doesn't _properly_ cover it. No such _bloody thing_ as conjugal rights with us, ok?” Neville half nodded.

“Please don’t make me write that down, Gran will have a fit if she ever sees that I wrote something like that on a document you want to display in public.”  Harry snorted, it was almost funny that this was what Neville got prudish about. “...For _so_ many reasons.”  
  
“Pass it here, Neville. If you won’t write it, I will.” Hermione held her hand out for the parchment and quill. “I’m assuming I’m sitting here, and you are doing _this_ , with me here because you want somebody that is basically an impartial fourth, Harry?”  
  
“Third, actually… Omegas don’t have rights, Granger.” Hermione fixed Neville with a hurt look.

“Why are you talking to me like you turned into Malfoy?” Neville glanced at her, surprised she didn’t know.

“Third party conversation dynamics, Granger, I’m in my Alpha’s presence, they kick in. He hasn’t approved any invitation you might have issued that I call you by your given name.” Hermione looked scandalised.

“Harry!” Harry glanced between them, completely lost. “We’ve been friends for eight years, tell him he can call me by my name!” Neville glanced at Harry questioningly, and he nodded, eyes wide and hoping that it would do.

“Yeah, sure, I didn’t realise.”

“Of course you didn’t Alpha, it’s a practice from eighty-six for Omegas, you’re irritable and stressed right now, so I was playing it safe.” Harry rolled his eyes.

“You’re a Beta, you never have to play it _that_ safe with me,” Harry told him pointedly. “Anyway back to the matter in hand, she’s right, Nev. I’ve discussed this whole _rights_ thing with him. And in _this_ family? He has them.”

“Can’t imagine he took that well,” Neville muttered.

“About as well as a crup takes milk,” Harry answered.

“Minor freakout followed by needing a lot of petting to calm him down?” Neville asked, and Harry shrugged.

“He’s not completely broken, he didn’t need that much petting. Plus, I think I blew his mind with this last one for him to worry too much about being treated like a _human being_.”

  
“What was the last one, Harry?” Hermione asked.

 “Kids.” Neville went completely stock still. “He carries them, he gets the right to be part of raising them that’s more than just doing what we tell him.” Neville blinked rapidly.

 “You’re joking!” Harry shook his head as he widened his eyes questioningly.

 “Er, no? Why would I be?”

 “Just, so I understand, tell me, Alpha, word-for-word what you said to him.” Harry frowned.

 “Um… something like ‘if anything I ask of you puts you, or our offspring in danger, you retain the right of refusal, be that danger mental, emotional, or physical.’ or something like that.”

 “And he didn’t pass out?” Harry shook his head slightly, and Neville let out a low whistle.

 “What?”

 “Omega’s got _fucking balls of steel_.” Considering that Neville had been prudish about writing anything that related to sex, to hear him curse like that when he wasn’t strongly aroused and completely in private made Harry start. Hermione was staring at him, mouth agape. “And you… that _has_ to be what he meant when he said you don’t treat him like an Omega.” Harry waited for Neville to pull himself together. “Fucking hell, Harry, giving him the right to veto you on your kids?”

“ _Our_ kids, Nev.” Neville was staring at Harry as if seriously considering having him committed to a psychiatric ward. “All three of us, I don’t care which one he catches on with. I like to think I’d love a kid with your looks just as much as one with mine.” Harry couldn’t help the strength in his tone, this mattered -- and if Neville didn’t agree...

 “Well, yeah, of course, that’s obvious... but Harry… you want him to have parental rights?”

 “I’m not seeing what the issue is here,” Harry stated coolly.

 “Two words Harry;” Harry raised his eyebrows in question, “ _Alpha child_.”

 “So? I don’t care if one of our kids turns out to be the _Second Coming_ , they’ll have respect for all their parents, dammit!” Neville coloured and dipped his head, and Harry stared at the gesture before he realised that he’d actually scared Neville somehow. Neville didn’t look up until he’d finished writing. “Nev…?” Harry asked more softly after a moment. He wasn’t sure what button he’d pressed but whatever it was had undoubtedly upset his Beta. Neville wasn’t answering, he seemed frozen in place.

Harry moved slowly, glancing at Hermione who took the silent hint to move as Harry knelt down in front of his Beta.

“Hey, Nev,” He reached out slowly and took Neville’s hand in his own, it was ice cold, and he could feel the usual minor post-curse tremors, “talk to me?” It was only because he was so close he caught how Neville’s breath hitched.

 “As Alpha wishes.” Harry nearly physically recoiled. It hurt him to have Neville like this. Neville wasn’t supposed to talk like that.

 “Nev,” he lifted his hand to Neville’s cheek slowly, “hey, come on, you’re my Beta, _my right hand_. You don’t bow and scrape to me like this. Talk to me?” Neville lifted his own and covered the one Harry was cupping his face with. His eyes were glassy, and he was visibly clenching his jaw. He shook his head minutely a few times, expression begging Harry not to make him speak.

 “Do you need me to back off?” Harry asked, brow furrowed in worry. Neville shook his head again, and the grip turned tight on Harry’s hand.

 “Promise me,” Neville spat out tightly before he paused as if fortifying himself.

 “Anything.” Neville blinked, and a tear slipped from his eye. Harry reached up and swiped at it gently.

 “Don’t _fucking_ let my Uncle Algie anywhere near our kids.” Neville’s voice was thick with unshed tears and repressed rage, and judging by how much his hand was trembling he was more than a little afraid.

  
“He goes through me first,” Harry promised, eyes hard.  
  
“Me second, Pack first, right Harry?” Hermione chimed in, and Harry flashed her a smile.

 “And I hear you won that bet that Severus is _really_ good at castration charms,” Harry muttered, and Neville broke into a small teary laugh. “I do need to know why though… so I know exactly how much to hurt him if he tries.” Harry added gently. Neville squeezed his hand.

“He used to say that, whenever I wasn’t good enough, magic enough or disciplined enough, he was my uncle, he was _raising_ me in my father’s place, so... I would _respect_ him.”  
  
“Hey, Mione? What was that thing about people and respect you used to mutter?” Harry shot her a look “Usually with Umbridge in mind?”  
  
“Some people respect you and treat you like a person. Others demand respect just so that they _will_ treat you like a person.”

 “Yeah, he didn’t want respect.” Neville put a hand to his mouth. “Harry…” Neville was clearly struggling to admit this. “Harry, I know the Omega protocols so well because, well, Gran was scared of what he’d do to me if I didn’t show him that level of _respect_.”  
  
“He --” Hermione clapped a hand over her mouth, and Harry spelled a bin into being without even stopping to think about it, that was something they’d all learned while Ron was crying and cursing and throwing up in his first heat. Over the sound of Hermione vomiting, Harry felt his insides turn to stone.

 “He’s my Grans age, her brother, my dad’s uncle, Harry,” Neville’s voice was little more than a whisper, “I know exactly how Severus expects you to treat him. I’ve… I’ve been there.” Harry saw red. It was bad enough to do that to an Omega, but to _Neville_?

 “ _Keep him the fuck away from me_ , tell your Gran, I ever meet that bastard he’s a dead man walking. Nothing and no one will stop me ripping his lungs out if he ever comes near you again!”  
  
Hermione managed to look up. “The Old Place probably has storage if a body just needs to… vanish?”

  
The smile Harry gave would have made lesser beings tremble. Harry tipped his head and made a considering noise. “He ever so much as tries to say a _word_ to any child of _ours_? I will destroy him.”  
  
“As is your right, Alpha.” Neville managed before he glanced cautiously towards the mug of tea that sat where his Alpha had been sitting. Harry only nodded absently, and Neville used his free hand to snag the cup, and Harry stood up slowly and enveloped him in a protective hug.

 ‘ _Mione_ ,’ he mouthed and waved slightly to catch her eye when his friend looked up at him. ‘ _The uncle_.’ Harry lifted his hand from Neville’s back, ‘ _find him_ ,’ and drew it across his throat. She nodded once.

 “It’s alright Nev, he can’t hurt you anymore, I won’t let him, not ever again.” Neville made a low sound in his throat that was eerily reminiscent of Severus when he was afraid. Hermione was gesturing quietly at Neville's hands. Harry frowned at her as she leaned in and touched Neville's shoulder. He winced into Harry, and she lifted her hand automatically.

 “Neville,” She said softly, “those tremors,” Neville stiffened in Harry’s arms, “none of the others still have them, and the Carrows didn’t treat you much different than them.” She said slowly, glancing up at Harry between every word. “You had them before, didn’t you?” Neville whimpered softly.

 “He…” Neville started to say and turned his head, burying it into Harry’s chest for a moment before he stopped to breathe, “He said if I didn’t learn, then there were always free beds next to my parents.” Neville took another breath to steady himself as Hermione let out a gasp of rage, “I wasn’t scared of them, because he always told me if I disrespected or shamed him… I’d _wish_ it was Lestrange who got me.” Harry didn’t hear what his Beta said next over the snarl that ripped out of him. “It’s why my aim is a bit…” Neville trailed off nervously at the sound.  
  
When Neville flinched and then went limp, Harry froze… rage washing away instantly because _that_ was not a typical reaction. He dipped his head and nosed at Neville’s pulse, pressing his lips against the other man’s jugular. He sighed when it thrummed easily against his mouth.  
  
“Yours, Alpha.”  
  
Harry pulled back, feeling as though he’d just been slapped, remembering Severus’ voice saying the exact thing to him.

 “Come on Beta, I’m not leaving you up here tonight.” Neville tried to pull away from him, but Harry wasn’t letting go.

 “No,” Neville whined out, “I can’t, your Omega, he needs you, he-”

 “Will understand,” Harry said firmly. “We’re family, we don’t leave family alone in this state.”

 “No, please, don’t,” Neville gripped onto Harry’s shirt tightly, “you can’t tell him, please…”

 “Nev,”

 “No, he needs me strong, you, you both do, he can’t, I can’t…” Harry gripped Neville's shoulders tightly and stood him upright.

 “Listen to me, you are strong, this doesn’t change that, you’re _my_ Beta.”  
  
“Neville? Do you know how many nights I held Harry while he screamed himself hoarse from visions? While he threw up over and over because he could still see it, even awake? How many times _your Alpha_ broke down in tears over what he _couldn’t_ save? I don’t see him as _less_ for that. He’s one of the strongest men I know.” Harry stared at Hermione, she’d never told him that, “And? You are right there with him. If it hadn’t been for Harry? After what that _bitch_ did to me? I might not have made it.”

 “Mione,” Harry told her without blinking or looking away from her, “you _carried_ me, it was the least I could do to return the favour for a bit.” Hermione rubbed the scars on her arm absently and nodded at him.

 “We’re family, Harry, we don’t keep track of favours. We just look out for each other. That’s what families do.”

 “Do they?” Harry made a bitterly amused sound. “No one who ever did that has my blood.”

 “Who said family means blood?”

 “Pack.” Neville’s mumble rumbled from somewhere deep in his chest.

 “What?”

 “It means blood spilt, sacrificed, and offered. It’s more than family. It’s the choice.” And Harry heard it echo in his memories, clear as a bell.

 “It is our choices… that show what we truly are.” He swallowed thickly. “Yeah, pack. That’s what we are.” Hermione’s lip quirked. She didn’t have to understand the dynamic to realise that she’d become an integral part of it tonight.

“So… Do I sign as a witness, you two sign this thing now, and then your Omega signs after he’s read it and agreed?” Hermione asked, voice calm even as her eyes glittered with suppressed tears.

 “Nev?” his beta shook his head.

 "No, we sign it all together or not at all.” Neville plucked the parchment from her hand. “Come down in the morning ‘Mione, after breakfast, so that we’re all up and mostly functioning by that point.”  
  
“Hey!” Harry mock-growled. Hermione and Neville chuckled.  
  
“How many cups of coffee can we get into _our_ Omega before she gets there?” Neville asked, grinning -- he’d noticed the stock of coffee in Severus’ cupboards the first morning after. Harry smiled.  
  
“ _There’s my Beta;_  if we start him as soon as he’s awake? Probably at least four. He perks right up at the first cup. _It’s like magic or something_.” Harry’s smile was soft, and Hermione just laughed.

 


	21. Chapter 21

“Alpha? Beta?” Severus hadn’t expected to see Beta back here tonight. He tried not to move defensively when Beta circled around him and out of even his peripheral vision and it took all of his will not to glance back nervously. Alpha was stood right in front of him where Severus had scrambled to his feet to greet the young man.

“Do you trust me, Omega?” Severus dipped his head automatically.

“Alpha?”

“It’s a simple question, Omega, do you trust me?” Harry glanced up at Neville who nodded once at him. ‘Palm flat up,’ he mouthed and gestured and Harry nodded, safe in the knowledge that Severus didn’t see him do it.

“Yes, Alpha.” Severus wasn’t sure where this was leading but after the debacle earlier he had to get this -- whatever it was, right. Alpha’s hand stretched out in front of him.

“Your wand, Omega.” Something like warmth spread through Severus as he fished his wand from his sleeve and placed it on his Alpha’s open palm, dropping to his knees automatically as he did. He didn’t care if this was a punishment, something deep inside him was singing at the opportunity to present himself so completely.

Harry glanced up and Neville had his five fingers outstretched and was showing Harry his palm. Harry watched as Neville counted slowly, a finger dropped each time his beta breathed in. Neville’s hand formed a fist and he loosened it instantly, pressing his palm forward and towards the ground. ‘That will do,’ he mouthed silently and Harry echoed the words out loud as Neville gestured upwards. 

“That will do, Omega, on your feet,” Severus obeyed quickly, even his scent was confused, “here,” Harry handed the Omega his wand back and Severus let out a breath he wasn’t aware he’d been holding, “I owe you an apology Omega, I should have understood what you needed.”

He watched Severus freeze and then relax.

“Alpha has no need to apologise to his Omega,” Severus said and then, quite literally taking his life in his hands, he looked up and made himself stay stoic in the face of Alpha’s sharp intake of breath, “but it speaks volumes of Alpha’s integrity that he would.” Harry had completely forgotten that Neville was in the room as he caught the shy heat coming from his omega. Severus was presenting, just a little and not strongly but offering himself nonetheless and somehow with no fear. It didn’t drive Harry wild, somehow Severus wasn’t offering his body right now, it soothed the niggling doubt that Severus didn’t want to be here. Harry leaned down and kissed him then pressed his mouth gently over the mark on Severus’s neck.

“I can and will protect you Omega,” Harry whispered lightly. Severus’s lip quirked against Harry’s neck where he’d pressed himself, “you are my family,” he glanced up at Neville and Severus shifted aside to allow Neville the space to step into Harry’s arms also, “anything in my power to do for you, you only have to say.” He felt Severus nod and Neville half smiled, his expression almost doting as he glanced between Harry and Severus.

-

 

Harry hadn’t expected Neville to last as long as he did before the exhaustion kicked in and it wasn’t long before he started to nod.

“Nev, go sleep, your charms work can wait.” Harry muttered after Neville yawned for the third time.

“M fine, Har.” And then he yawned again and sighed. “Whatever,” Neville didn’t really do aggressive when he was upset so even the hot declaration was jarring. “I’m going. Make sure you have supper.” Severus glanced up from his marking at Neville, eyes wide, and then shifted his gaze to Harry.

"Yeah, we will. You go sleep.”

"Beta...?” Severus had managed to control his expression before he spoke.

"Sorry I snapped, Professor, just tired.” Severus nodded and returned to his marking as Neville stumbled his way into the bedroom. Harry waited until the door closed and sighed.

"Severus,”

"Yes, Alpha?”

"I need a favour,” Severus stood and placed himself squarely at Harry’s knees.

"Anything, Alpha.” Harry swallowed.

"Someone hurt him, Severus, they did things to him that would have broken anyone else.” Severus didn’t move. “I want revenge. I want him dead. Will you help me?” Severus made a low noise in the back of this throat like he was curious. Harry dropped his hand in front of Severus and flicked his fingers lightly, just enough to indicate to Severus to stand and when he did so Harry pulled him into the sofa without preamble.

"His Uncle, Severus, the things that were done to him...” and Severus listened as Harry told him about the conversation he’d missed. Harry had expected Severus to get upset, possibly to soften or seek comfort so when he turned hard, when he straightened in his seat and fingered his wand with a dangerous glint in his eye Harry wasn’t sure what to do or say for a moment.

"Are you in?” Harry asked. He wasn’t ordering Severus to do anything he didn’t want to here. It had to be he own decision and Harry could just as easily do this without him- he just didn’t want to.

"No one tortures my students, Alpha.” Severus had the kind of vicious smirk gracing his lips that would have made Harry’s blood run cold if he thought he was the reason for it, “that is _my_ job.” Harry couldn’t help it, he laughed. Severus and his sense of humour were exactly what he’d needed tonight. “How traceable would you wish it?”

“Is there such a thing as untraceable?” Harry countered.  
  
“Considering the shambles the Ministry is in still, eighteen months later? Even Shacklebolt couldn’t find some of the worst out there… and he’s probably one of the best Dark Wizard Catchers left alive, Alpha.”  
  
“What would you need?”  
  
“Some… are… forbidden. Not just Ministry… but socially. Because they target certain aspects of instinct.” Severus hedged.

 “Whatever you need, once Hermione brings the information to me we’ll find an excuse to visit the Malfoys so we can get Ron’s take on this… he’ll take one look and know exactly where we need to go,” Severus fixed Harry with an incredulous look, “I know you’re used to working alone, but if I don’t bring Ron in on this i’ll never hear the end of it. He’s a chess player, we’re used to working as a team.”  
  
“For things which are forbidden, social suicide--“

 “There’s no such thing as socially forbidden, Severus, only things i’ll be ripped apart in the papers for being involved in if it gets out and it’s not like i haven’t been there before. And we need to come away from this clean.”  
  
“Alpha, there are potions that can bind instincts… turn an Alpha into a blind Beta or less. They are forbidden because to cripple an Alpha in such a way is a gross violation of everything we are.”

“And what he did to neville isn't _a gross violation_?” Harry raised an eyebrow and Severus looked away from him. “The fact that that’s where your mind went first, makes me think i’m not the one you’re trying to talk out of doing this.” Harry observed softly.  
  
“Alpha… some of these potions? Would kill you, and only you. A beta or omega or female alpha could partake of the substance and they would pass through as though a mild stomach bug was at work… but if an alpha male were to take it? Dead in hours. And in the hands of an Omega... “ Severus trailed off with a shudder.  
  
“Is there an antidote to it?” Harry asked, eyes considering.  
  
“Yes. But it would have to be taken well before ingesting the actual poison. And it could mimic heart problems or nerve issues.”

“Can we drag out the nerve issues, make him sit in pain for a few days before it finally kills him?” Severus’s expression turned calculating  
  
“Not without it impacting everyone at the table with him, Alpha. And lingering malaise may have him contacting a healer.”

“Could a healer cure him?” The idea of letting Algie stew for a few days knowing nothing could save him gave Harry a very real sense of vindictive pleasure. “Because i’m not against letting him know exactly how it feels to be trapped in a situation you have no control over.”  
  
“Some of the potions were banned centuries ago, Alpha. There is one where heart palpitations and excruciating agony for up to three days are possible. However, the active ingredient is an Alpha-Targeter, and thereby banned as a saleable ingredient in country by order of the Ministry.”  
  
“You don’t seem concerned that it will be hard to aquire.”  
  
“I brewed it for the Dark Lord. I retained a small batch at Albus’ request. It is still here.” Severus gestured towards a bookcase in particular. “There’s enough in the vial to destroy at least ten alpha males. It was agony to watch. The antidote can be taken either before or after ingestion. It is harmless to any other that swallows it.”  
  
“What’s the worst that will happen with the antidote in effect?”

  
“To scans? You would read as though you had more chronic damage from the cruciatus curse, Alpha. As would all of us. I know the Longbottom Matriarch was put under that curse at least twice by Death Eaters.”

“Hold on a minute, let me just clear something up… both Voldemort,” Severus winced and Harry touched his arm comfortingly even as he did, he knew things like that would take time and he wasn’t about to blame Severus for that, “and Dumbledore, both wanted a potion that could kill Alpha males?” Severus fixed him with a wary look. “Actually, don’t tell me, i don’t want to know why. How does _this_ stuff affect Beta’s when they ingest it? Would we need to find a way to slip anyone else at the table the antidote as well?”  
  
“No, Alpha. It would just reflect as though the damage were flaring up more so than usual. Without the antidote in your system… it would kill you slowly, and rather painfully. Convulsions, fever, inability to keep anything down, along with more… humiliating aspects of being violently ill are all hallmarks of this Alpha Poison.”  
  
“With the antidote?”  
  
“Vomiting. A low grade fever. Some muscle aches. Lethargy for a day until the potion is completely broken down by your system. It turns into harmless natural substances. If it isn’t found within the first twelve hours? It won’t be. The detection window is rather small.”

“So, it’s out of the system before you’re even dead?” Harry had never grasped poisons, it was one of those advanced areas of potions that he’d just learned to parrot the textbook and pretend he had any clue what he was talking about.  
  
“Yes. But the damage it has done while it was fully active is terrible and swift, however it takes a while for the affected to die.”

“And exactly how clever a potions student do you need to be? Because if you’re the only person in the country clever enough to put this together then we need to rethink, i won’t have anyone looking at it and thinking it might possibly have been you.”  
  
“Albus knew of the potion, Alpha. The Dark Lord knew -- because he found and commanded I brew it. The books were banned that listed it. The book I used to copy from was turning to dust under my hands. It is forgotten. The plant is prohibited from import or growing in the UK. Because of what it is.”

“What are the odds another potions master would look at it and take an educated guess? Or a herbology specialist? Or Hermione if she wasn’t already in on it. I don’t want you or Neville implicated in this.”  
  
“There are five common herbs that can provoke some of the same symptoms. But not all. A simple test would indicate that none of them exist in the afflicted person. It appears very much like food poisoning, Alpha. Perhaps an uncaught Death Eater might recognize it… but it was only Inner Circle that knew of the Dark Lord’s experiments with that particular potion.”

“The average Auror, you think they’d test for those and then stop or assume natural causes? You’ve taught most of them, the trainees as well, what do you think?” 

“The average auror, may think to test for three of those herbs.” Harry bit back a smirk at Severus’s sly insult.

 “If the test comes up negative? The fever would rule out two of the three. The prolonged vomiting would rule out the last. It would implicate the fourth… if they also look for broken blood vessels in the eyes -- but the potion does not produce that effect.”

“Severus, you need to be certain, I can’t protect you from them if they realise it was you and I definitely can’t protect myself. Not for killing someone like Longbottom.”  
  
“Alpha. I personally sat and force fed all five of those herbs… either separate or in combinations to twenty muggles. And I fed the potion to five alphas, one of which was a Death Eater that had so displeased the Dark Lord he was given to _me_ as a test subject… I am certain. It is also how I know the antidote works.” Severus dropped his gaze at that admission and flinched when Harry lifted a hand to tip his chin up.  
  
“You are certain?”  
  
“If I had failed the Dark Lord then, I wouldn’t be yours now, Alpha.”

“Every cloud.” Harry murmured flippantly, Severus looked up as if surprised and frowned in question. “You’re here. I can’t say I’m against anything that made that happen.” Harry paused. “Don’t brew it yet, unless it keeps, I need to sit down with Ron and Hermione and plan this properly.”

  
“It was something I never disposed of after the Dark Lord’s downfall...  Everyone at the table -- provided we don’t go over ten -- would get a full dose. The antidote, however, does need to be freshly made. I managed to kill the Death Eater by letting an antidote go stale. Thankfully the Dark Lord was in a vile mood that day and delighted in the slow death.” Harry pulled a face, he hadn’t ever thought he’d feel sympathy for an unnamed death eater.

“I’m not going to ask what made you keep a poison specifically for Alphas once the war was over, I can imagine…” Severus winced as if expecting a blow. “Don’t blame you in the slightest.” Severus glanced up at him. “Severus, I’m not an Omega, and I’ve nearly killed at least three different Alpha’s this season alone for being inconsiderate pricks, I can just imagine that you’ve dealt with more.”  
  
“You are an atypical Alpha.” Severus offered a cautious smile and Harry just chuckled and nodded.

“So I’m told.”

-

 

“Hey, Sev,” Harry bit back a smile when his omega flushed slightly at the diminutive, “how irritated will you be if i neglect that potions essay to sort out Nev’s charms work for him?”

“Professionally or personally, Alpha?”  
  
Harry paused at that, not having considered there to be a difference. “Er, I’ll do the potions essay, Flitwick won’t throw anything at Neville or me if he doesn’t hand in an essay on patronuses.” Harry quipped amusedly.  
  
The amusement faded from Harry’s face when Severus dipped his head and drew a shaking breath, “I apologize for my past behavior, Alpha. Any punishment you set is justified.”  
  
“Severus? I expect an eraser to come flying at my head if I am whispering with Hermione in your class. The jar didn’t actually touch me, fifth year. And you have an impressive aim. But you always aim for the shoulder with a Slytherin… why is that?”  
  
“Chalk marks on the robes are much more obvious… especially when the erasers are spelled to make the marks that come into contact with fabric… last.” Harry blinked. “I have a practice of ensuring that they believe I am rather precious about their appearance.”  
  
“Oh. Huh. Was that three and a half feet or four?” Harry asked, pointedly ignoring the offer and the apology.  
  
“Three and a half, Alpha.”  
  
“Oh good. Only a half a foot to go then.” Harry muttered before he got up and dug through his bag to find the scroll he’d started while Severus stared at him in confusion. Severus watched as his Alpha returned to the sofa where he’d been once again working from. “Oh that reminds me, Hermione is coming down here tomorrow after breakfast, to discuss this.” Harry slipped the parchment from his pocket and waved it absently.  
  
“When will you require breakfast, Alpha?” Severus asked and Harry’s head came up.  
  
“Around the same time the Great Hall serves breakfast… Mione usually gets done eating at about half past seve-?” harry frowned, it wasn’t Severus making that noise was it? He was already on his feet, conversation forgotten as Neville crying in the next room set his instincts ablaze with the need to get to him. _Now_.  
  
Harry crashed through the door, not caring how much noise he made or what damage was done, it could be fixed later. Neville had made a soft squeaking sound and jumped out of his sleep at the noise, Harry had never been more grateful for his natural speed and agility as he moved himself between the bedroom furniture to the bedside.

“Nev,” Harry breathed out his Beta’s name as he reached forward, Neville whimpered and shied away from him, “you’re ok, Nev, you're safe i promise. It’s alright.” Harry barely heard exactly what he was saying as he tried to calm his beta, it didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things anyway.

“Harry!” At least Neville knew who he was, Harry knew from experience that waking up after a nightmare didn’t necessarily mean you would know who was at your bedside.

“It’s alright Nev, you’re ok,”

“I’m sorry Harry I’m sorry I’ll be better, please,” Harry tapped the lamp on the bedside to get some light and shot a questioning look down at his beta where he’d curled up in the bed.

“It’s alright, Nev,” Harry moved to slide onto the edge of the bed but Neville flailed and fought him off, hysterical, and Harry only just caught an arm before the hand hit him in the face. “Help me, Severus!” Severus moves quickly and almost silently, gliding through the room until he was at the bedside and Harry shifted out of the way. He watched fascinated as Severus leaned over Neville and murmured something and their beta stilled.

“How did you do that?” Harry gaped as he watched Neville wind his arms around Severus and cling to him quietly. Severus dipped his head and spoke softly into his beta’s ear, reminding him gently that he was safe, that their alpha loved him and that no one was going to make him bow down here.

“He told you?” Neville’s low heart wrenching sob made Severus want to cry for him. He knew how traumatic the kind of training the teen had been through was and he’d been born to it.

“He means well, Beta, I think you know that.” Severus knew he was walking a line between his role as the adult professor and the omega in the dynamic here. Neville nodded against his chest.

“You shouldn’t have to,” Severus squeezed his beta’s hand reassuringly.

“You would not be the first or last student to suffer night terrors, Beta,” Beta pressed himself closer and Severus was overwhelmed by an instinct to just hold him and protect him. Severus wasn’t even ashamed nor did he care what alpha might do to him for snarling when alpha went to touch Beta. Severus had a young man, who was hurting, to protect. Nothing else mattered more than that.

“Right, protective instinct, got it.” Severus didn’t fully process what alpha said straight away. He wasn’t sure how alpha had understood so quickly until he realised that his own scent had slipped from him again. By the time he looked back up from where he had offered Beta his neck to nose into alpha was pacing and the air had turned sharp with the coppery scent of rage.

“Alpha,” Severus tried softly, protective instinct over Beta warring with the need to placate his alpha.

“Winky,” Severus jumped when the elf popped into the room, “need something to calm me down, nothing medical, for all of us.” He wasn’t surprised when the smell of hot chocolate from three steaming mugs appeared a moment after the elf disappeared. “Thanks Winky.” She didn’t reappear even as Harry picked up a mug and approached the bed slowly.

“… Nev?” Neville whimpered and Severus’s grip tightened around him. Harry moved slowly, well aware that Severus taken up by his instinct might just gut him if he’d decided that he was protecting Neville tonight.

“It’s alright, I’m not going to hurt him Severus, you know that don’t you?” Severus stared at alpha for several seconds, reading his body language and his scent. He found himself nodding. Alpha handed him a mug for beta and Severus took it carefully. Beta tried to refuse it at first.

“It will settle your stomach, Beta, soothe it…” Severus offered softly. Beta shook his head almost petulantly.

“Feel sick,” He mumbled almost childishly. Alpha moved slowly and Severus watched him sit himself on the edge of the bed, Harry glanced up as if asking permission as he reached out for Neville, Severus loosed his grip and beta whined.

“It’s alright Nev, you’re ok,” Harry murmured softly, “you’re doing really well,” he caught the approving look Severus fixed him with, “think you can manage a drink for me,” he glanced up at Severus who nodded encouragingly obviously having realised that harry had decided that he was going to try gently convince Neville, “I’ll help, then Severus can have something to drink too, what do you think Nev?” Severus fixed Harry with a knowing look. He’d already realised that beta was the type who would become quickly focused on caring for other people if he felt they needed it. “We can get some chocolate and milk in him, make up for me forgetting to order us supper.”

“Harry!” Neville’s tone had turned irritated and he was pulling away from Severus a little. “You _promised_ me!” Severus bit back a smile at the haughtily delivered declaration.

“I’ll order something quick if we have these drinks first, how does that sound?”  

“Alright,” Neville took the mug carefully from Harry who reached back to hand one to Severus with a significant look. Severus took it even as he let his eyes dip below Harry’s jawline.

“Drink while they’re hot, or Winky will have my hide!” Harry joked softly and Severus’s eyes snapped to him, he’d thought he’d been handed one of the cups for show.  
  
Severus sipped with eyes fixed on his Alpha. He hid his smile when Beta made an approving noise at him. He took another drink and then snarled when his Alpha tried to get off the bed. When Alpha just looked at him, he felt his stomach flip. Then Beta made a low noise of distress and their Alpha settled back onto the bed -- apparently understanding now.  
  
“Neville? Is there enough room for me?” Harry asked, eyeing how Severus’ pose was defensive with his wand arm free.  
  
“Yeah?” Neville murmured, eyes flicking up from his chocolate. Harry nodded and slowly eased closer -- completely prepared to back off if Severus’ demeanor changed, or if Neville panicked again.  
  
Harry watched as both of his bonded mates relaxed as he got closer. He smiled when Severus caught Neville’s mug as the blond sagged into him. “Hey.”  
  
“Hmm.” Neville managed before accepting his mug back. Harry frowned briefly but wasn’t about to reach for his own wand.  
  
“Is there anything odd in this chocolate?”  
  
Harry watched his Omega sniff at the mug he held, pause, and then shake his head. “Just chocolate and milk.”  
  
“Then?”  
  
“Omega pheromones, Alpha. Calming effect on young.” Severus explained briefly, sipping at his drink and pointedly glancing at his Alpha’s own mug. Harry took a drink.  
  
“But?”  
  
“Conventional wisdom suggests one grows out of the effect.” Severus voice held a good measure of sarcasm. Harry smirked.  
  
“So that’s why Neville and I are both sleepy? You are calming us?” Harry managed to smother a yawn and Severus just blinked at him.  
  
“Alphas are not as strongly influenced.” Severus murmured, brushing a hand over Neville’s forehead, absently checking for fever.  
  
“Food?” Neville muttered, pushing his mug towards Severus, who set the now empty cup on the bedside table.  
  
“Still trying to care for us, Nev… even mostly asleep?”  
  
“Me’ob.” Nev managed. Harry chuckled softly and Winky appeared with a pop and a large tray.  
  
“Mr. Longbottom, you are going to have to sit up a bit, or the elf will not be able to set down the tray. And I would prefer to avoid upsetting her?” Harry glared at the harder tone that his Omega used, but blinked when Neville readily shifted from leaning against him to a more upright posture. Huh… _maybe Scary Snape Voice was good for something still_ …  
  
The lid was removed and the tray was slid onto their laps. Harry just stared down at the single large serving plate. Chopped roast, stewed carrots and soft potatoes with… he frowned… steamed broccoli.  
  
Neville glanced at the plate and rolled his eyes. “Both. Chew. Yes.”  
  
Severus only huffed a sigh and reached for one of three forks that waited on the tray. He prodded at the broccoli and stuck a piece in his mouth and chewed.  
  
“Severus…” An absent hand wave with the fork stopped the remainder of the protest from Harry. He shrugged and grabbed his own fork and started in on part of the roast. Both Alpha and Omega prodded Neville to eat.  
  
Severus managed a bit of everything, skipping the rest of the broccoli after the first bite. When he set his fork down, he shot a pleading look at the Beta who blinked, glanced down at the plate between them and opened his mouth.  
  
“That’s enough.” Harry countered, knowing Severus would try and force himself to eat more than he could actually stomach. He watched as Neville more or less finished his own piece of roast and then slid more towards Severus, exhaustion showing.  
  
Harry ate the remainder of the carrots and one more potato before Winky popped back in and removed the tray. All three men yelped in shock when a snap of fingers swapped all of their clothing for nightwear.  
  
Neville blinked when Severus squeaked and he looked over. Harry sighed.  
  
“With boxers, Winky, please. My preference.” Harry ignored the surprised look the elf threw him, but she snapped her fingers again before popping away.  
  
“That elf… a menace, Alpha.” Severus muttered. Neville snorted in amusement. Severus grumbled but went still when the Beta snuggled into him as though he were nothing more than an overly large stuffed toy to cuddle. Harry’s smile was fond as he settled down, brushing matching forehead kisses over his Beta and his Omega.

-

They had napped for so long that midnight had well passed when Harry woke to find both his Beta and Omega in equal states of alert sleepiness that could only be achieved in the early hours of the morning. Harry twiddled Severus’s wand in his hand absently, trying to get used to the feel of it between his fingers even as he kept one careful eye on the door. Just enough so he’d have chance to drop it right on his own knees next to Severus's face if anyone barged through. Although being wandless might be the least of their worries if anyone broke in right now- the lack of decent clothing being the first major concern. Severus had laid his head pointedly on Harry's thigh and simply placed the wand on Harry's chest from where he'd fished it from under the pillows. Harry's natural curiosity had won out, as he was well aware his Omega had intended, and he'd sat up with two or three pillows behind him to examine it by the light of the bedside lamp.

“You received a package earlier, Alpha,” Severus hesitated, “while you were upstairs with Miss Granger.” Harry glanced around the room. “With your leave, Alpha, it is in the kitchen.” Severus moved to stand but Neville slipped a hand on his shoulder to still him.

“I’ll get it.” Neville muttered and lifted his wand.

“I want my parcel not the toast-“ Harry cut off abruptly, knowing why Neville’s aim was so poor made that joke turn to ash in his mouth. Neville’s smile faltered where he was curled into Harry’s side.

“Don’t Har,” Harry glanced down at his beta’s voice, “don’t do that, don’t let him win.” Harry noted the way Severus stiffened.

“He hasn’t Nev, you’re here with me now.” Harry murmured soothingly and Neville shook his head.

“No, I mean, he did it deliberately, don’t give him the satisfaction.” Harry frowned. “I was too young to have a wand for him to take,” Neville said softly, “so every day I wasn’t enough, that I didn’t show any sign of magic, he’d put me at his feet...” he watched Severus go still even though he was still absently stroking his hand over the back of the omega's head, “head down, one hand on my neck, and he’d take the other.”

Neville’s voice was soft but strong. “My wand hand. And every day he’d say that he was taking my wand. That every time I lifted my dad's wand, I’d remember that he owned me because I’d feel what he was doing all over again.” Harry lifted his hand absently to his mouth for a second. “And I’d remember that I wasn’t worthy of the name Longbottom, that I didn’t deserve to be called my father’s son, didn’t even deserve my own wand.”

Severus made a sound as if he were a small animal Harry had trodden on and Harry dropped a hand to his omega's shoulder automatically. They had a plan, they had to stick to it. That was all.

“So every time I cast a spell, it’s two fingers up at him, it wasn’t my failing that I didn’t show magic it was his. When I have good professors; I’ve learned, I’ve grown into a son I like to think my dad could be proud of. So don’t... don’t let it change how we are.” Harry squeezed Neville in a supportive one armed hug.

“Go on then, summon the toaster.” He quipped, not meeting his beta's gaze for fear he might give away how much it hurt to hear Neville describe living like that, and Neville laughed as he raised his wand.

“If I aim for the toaster I might have a better chance at getting the parcel. _Accio_!” Harry yelled out just in time when the parcel came through the door in time to give both Neville and Severus chance to scatter, and for Severus to swipe his wand from Harry’s grip before he did so, apparently neither of them had realised how big or how heavy it was.

“Wow.” Harry declared as he balanced it on his knee. “What is this?” He tugged the attached envelope from the parcel and the lights flared brighter. He glanced up with a frown at the sudden brightness to just be able to squint and make out Severus flicking his wand again to lower the light to less blinding levels.

Harry only ducked when he realized toast was whizzing through the air along with a jar of jam and a butter knife. Only a sharp glance up confirmed butter knife and not something more lethal as he slid down in bed, reaching up to snag the blade.  
  
He saw the look Severus threw at Neville who only shrugged. "That was deliberate, Beta."

"Well, I kinda wanted toast after Harry said it... so…”  Harry just passed Neville the knife and peered at the letter.

“Dear Mister Potter,” He read, “oooh, formal, ok…” Neville laughed softly and sighed as he bit into a slice of toast. “These items were found amongst your estates paperwork and given their importance we presumed you would appreciate having them returned to your possession immediately.” Harry frowned. “Well that’s not ominous at all, I’m going to--” Harry cut off and moved to slide out of the bed, “deal with this,” He picked up the parcel awkwardly.

“The office, Alpha,” Severus nodded at the door to the kitchen knowing that his Alpha knew how to find his way to the main office Severus had used for years to receive students from there.

 “Thanks Sev, you two enjoy your toast I’ll be right back.” Harry muttered absently, dropping a kiss to Severus’s forehead, a peck on Neville’s cheek before declaring empathically “crumbs!” as he swiped at his mouth and left them curled up and snacking happily.

-

 

Harry stepped into Severus’s office and sighed as he twisted the dimmer switch on the wall so he could see. He set the parcel down and glanced back at the note. Aside from the standard legal header at the top and the same signature that had accepted his portfolio at the bank it said nothing else.  He couldn’t help himself being cautious as he automatically cast several revealing charms at the package, after the love mist he’d got over breakfast earlier in the month from some random middle aged wizard from Cornwall he knew to be careful. As convinced as he could be that the parcel was harmless Harry had his hand on the twine that had been tied around the paper for the journey when he realised he wasn’t alone.

“Harry?” he glanced up to find Neville and Severus with wands raised. “Everything ok?”  
  
“Yeah, just checking it for hexes, can’t be too careful.” Neville nodded.

“No idea what you used but you set three different wards off.” Harry frowned, two of the spells he’d used were taught at Hogwarts and the other… He fixed Severus with a surprised look.

“You have a ward against one of your own spells?” Severus half tilted his head as he pocketed his wand.

“As those spells were never shared, there were only three other people alive I had any evidence knew of them…” Severus murmured softly. “I must have forgotten to remove that ward last year,” He mused.

Harry frowned trying to work out the logic of Severus having a ward that alerted him specifically to when Harry, Ron or Hermione was in these rooms or how he had even known who else would trigger it.

“Alpha, I knew you had my old textbook, and I knew that you would share the information therein with your friends…” Harry still wasn’t following, “And so when it became imperative that I be able to find you when you returned to the castle,” And Harry got it, the spell specific wards would have told Severus right away if any of them had tried to enter his office or quarters, “must remember to tell Minerva it is there and to remove it from her office also,” Severus added, mostly to himself. Harry turned back to the parcel with a shrug as Neville dropped himself into one of the chairs. Severus gestured to the pile of paperwork on the desk as if asking if Harry would mind him sitting down and getting some marking done seeing as he was already awake and Harry waved him towards it as he pulled the string and opened the box.

"Nev, why the hell have I got four, no wait, five different wax seals?"

"Personal, family, in-laws you're entitled to, and for you, family."

" _What_?"

"That one is Potter family seal, that one Black, That one's Longbottom - Gran must have had you one cast, she moves fast,” Neville mused and Harry flushed realising that Augusta must have received his letter, “I've never seen that one, and that one you should have reset to your design if you don't want to use your fathers."

 "This was my dad's?” Harry picked up one of the seals that was slightly smaller than the others. “How old would he have been when they did this?” Harry asked, voice a little distant for a moment.

 “Traditionally at maturity or seventeen, which comes first.” Neville commented. Harry frowned at the design, something about it seemed odd.

 “Definitely after he sat his OWLS, didn’t make seeker until that year,” Harry’s lip quirked as he placed the symbolism that dated the thing almost exactly just from Harry’s knowledge of the history of his old house team. “Antlers,… is that…” Harry stared as he realised that the letter wasn’t an initial. “He was…” Harry fixed Severus with a questioning look.

 “Forgive me…”Severus said slowly, “It was not my place…” because he’d known that Harry would judge James harshly for knowing it and he’d taken no pleasure in knowing that fact.

 “That’s what you meant by my mum realising that there were hormones…” Harry said slowly and Severus nodded slightly, he wouldn’t meet Harry’s eye and made a point of busying himself with the essay he was marking. Harry set the seal down a little harder than he intended to. He’d long since stopped idolising the memory of his father but to know that James Potter had been as bad as any Alpha that Harry would gladly throttle made him feel slightly ill.

 "Can I just spell the envelope shut like a normal person?" Harry asked. He didn’t want to use his father’s seal or any family one.

 "No,” Severus cut in absently from where he had settled back into marking a fifth year attempt to argue with Borage on the ingredients of polyjuice with a scowl. "The unidentified seal is the Prince family," Severus told them, "as an Omega I have no right to it, however, carry the birthright in my line and into any bondings."

 "But..."

 "Alpha? It is meant to show your importance. It is meant to show the prominence of your family." Severus said.

 "Well... what do you use then?"

 "Until now... it was a silver seal with a double S and a serpent and cauldron. For all correspondence that were Potions related.".

"Why wouldn't you be allowed to use your own family seal? That's insane!"

"This is the family who allowed their daughter to be abused and die in poverty for marrying a muggle, their concept of blood purity is somewhat twisted. The idea of producing a childbearing male remains the favorite theory for what finally killed my grandfather." Severus answered coolly.

Harry glared for a few seconds and then drew a slow breath. "If that were the case? Anything involving you will use that particular seal. That one." and Harry hefted the Prince seal onto the desk next to Severus’s inkwell.

 "And why until now? For the other?"

"I no longer carry the name, Alpha. It will have to be broken."

"But... you're known as Potions Master Snape, it's a professional title, that's your entire reputation." Harry might have been angry if he wasn't completely bewildered.

"One I would not be adverse to leaving behind Alpha," Severus met Harry's gaze slowly, he didn't have to say any more, that name had far too much baggage, "It is customary to sign all professional correspondences with a formal addendum citing the change for one year and one day after the formal change takes effect."

"Formal?" Harry asked, he couldn't remember doing anything formally that might have changed Severus' name, he'd just assumed the ministry had dealt with it.

"When you did not contact the authorities within three working days of bonding, the name would have taken effect, your insistence of providing me with a silver key to your vaults expedited the process slightly as that is a _family_ privilege."

"So... by being unaware... I... what? Stripped you of your titles and ability to professionally correspond?!" Severus cringed as Harry's voice rose with each word. “Why didn’t Griphook say something? Why didn’t _you_?”

Severus took a steeling breath and answered firmly "no."

Harry opened his mouth as if to argue then closed it abruptly, waiting for Severus to explain then.

"Firstly, and in practical terms, I am a creature of habit in my writing, any potions master or supplier I might correspond with should recognise my quillmanship by now, if only from their own school days." Harry wasn't convinced. "Secondly, the addendum is not an unwelcome addition." Severus wasn't sure he should voice this next aloud but he didn't have much of a choice "Thirdly, the titles transfer, they were earned not inherited, they cannot be removed. And had I wished to retain the name Snape I would have indicated so on the ministry declaration and your Goblin would most certainly have brought the matter to your attention."

 "So then, the old seal needs to be broken in the usual way... and a new one forged with your new initials? That should be simple enough to manage then."

Severus let out a breath that he wasn’t aware he'd been holding that his alpha hadn’t seemed to realise what he had just admitted to, or didn't care.

"You-?"

Beta realised he'd been thrown when his voice caught and Severus watched realisation dawn.

"Har," Neville cut in quickly, "did you two ever actually discuss this or...?"

"Literally nothing to discuss Nev," Harry shrugged, "Severus needs a personal seal, he did me the honour of taking my name, so he can't use his old one. So new one. I don't see the issue." Severus and Neville exchanged glances, even though Neville had a sizeable fortune of his own he still couldn't get used to the kind of funds Harry had decided he wanted to spend liberally on the pair of them whenever the mood struck him.

"Alpha... the cost of striking a new seal... even a personal one is... several months wages, or an entire patent dividend." Severus murmured, trying to put it into perspective. When his Alpha stared in question Severus sighed and started to explain.

"That," Severus indicated the seal where it was still sat on his desk, untouched, "Was a gift," this was why he hadn't said anything, he hadn't quite overcome the ache in his chest at the idea of breaking it.

"Oh?" Severus was almost certain that his alpha was asking to gauge how attached to the thing he was and that the outcome wouldn't be good for him, and it took him a moment to remember that his Alpha was Harry Potter and Harry wasn't that cruel or vindictive.

"It is tradition," Severus said slowly, "When a Potions Master concludes their third year of teaching experience and the qualification is officially completed." Severus gestured vaguely. "The gift label was signed by four independent parties who all contributed to the cost." 

"Four? How?"

"Each contributed one month's salary or other income and an element of the design." Severus hesitated and set down the essay he was marking to reach for the seal. When his alpha didn't stop him he picked it up and ran his thumb carefully over the design. He'd been as stunned then as he remained that anyone, nevermind four people, had ever even cared for his academic pursuits or professional reputation.

"The symbology, it matters to you, doesn't it?" Severus had taken on a distant look as he stared at the seal, given half a chance there had been times in his life he would have surrendered his wand before he surrendered this. 

"The Chrysopoeia, symbolising the alchemic magnum opus, renewal and rebirth, beginning and end- the alpha and the omega, as she put it," He glanced up expecting confusion, "she was Christian," the many layers of tragic irony were not lost on him. 

"Who?"  
  
"Charity Burbage." Harry frowned for a moment before the name summoned up a face to match. Severus knew the moment his Alpha understood, he'd seen the young man stricken before and knew the expression well.

"You had to sit through her death, and play the obedient little...." Harry abruptly went silent and gained his feet from where he’d set himself into the nearest chair. Severus twitched only once and then watched as Harry stalked away, putting the room between them. Harry was pacing, rage building slowly as the thoughts and memories of half dreamt nightmares and violent deaths triggered a need to _move_ in him.

"Do you wish me to continue, or...?" Severus started to ask softly. For a moment he dearly wished that was the worst of what he was in the process of revealing.

"Harry!" Neville's voice brought Harry to a halt and he turned to look at his beta. Neville jerked his head towards Severus and Harry turned, blinking as he realized the man was standing with his hands behind him and head bowed. 

Harry crossed the room in three smooth paces and lifted his hand to cup Severus's cheek. Severus flinched when Harry's hand touched him. Harry let out a long slow breath and glanced at Neville who was staring significantly at him as if silently begging him not to fuck this up. "Not your fault," Harry said quietly and Severus's head snapped up so fast Harry automatically snaked his hand around the man's neck and rubbed soothing circles into the base where it would have pulled abruptly at the movement.

"Not." Harry repeated forcefully. "Your. Fault. Omega."

The breath that slipped from Severus was almost a whine. Harry continued to rub at the back of his neck and applied a little bit of pressure, so that Severus bent his head. The kiss was soft and Harry briefly dipped his tongue into his Omega's mouth. When he pulled back, he smiled. "He is the cause of my anger. Him. Ol' Snakeface. Never you, Omega-Mine."

Severus let out an almost shaky sounding laugh at the moniker and half nodded to himself, a glance over at Neville and the sheer relief on his face confirmed to Harry that he must have done something right. 

"Do, do you want to tell us more?" Harry asked softly. Severus glanced down at the seal and nodded. If this was going to be destroyed then the story needed to be told first.

"Flames for the cauldron, a reminder of the phoenix,” Severus paused. "Of the incomplete mission," Severus felt his Alpha stiffen for a moment. "and the warmth of belonging..." Severus swallowed the lump in his throat, "the Headmaster was sentimental."

Harry had never commented on Severus's habit of still calling Dumbledore 'Headmaster' even after carrying the title himself, and now didn't seem like a good time to bring it up either, "...If a little, blind, he believed that common goals were enough to overcome years of prejudice," to his horror Severus heard his own voice cracking, "on both sides."

He could still remember Albus, clear as a bell stood in this office trying to convince him that he would ever be welcome amongst the rest of the Order, ' _because, Severus my boy, what might you possibly call those bound together by will to see a child raised to manhood in safety but a family._ ' Severus hadn't had the heart to scoff at the Headmasters words. They had been hammered home when Molly Weasley (of all people) had attempted to feed him when he had appeared that that weeks' Order safehouse two weeks after the Potters had been killed.

Silence reigned for several moments as Severus's words sunk in. "Horace passed the cauldron," Severus said quickly before he lost the will to continue. "naturally," Severus had never known that Slughorn had cared whether he lived or died and he most certainly hadn't expected the man to do more than leave a note for his successor on the desk in the office before he had moved out, "and Lucius stated the name." Severus murmured slightly. Harry and Neville exchanged glances; Severus made mention of the older Malfoy before and Harry had mostly ignored it- he was willing to try with Draco for Ron’s sake but didn’t think his issues with Malfoy Senior would be settled that quickly or easily.

"The name?" Neville asked, willing to risk Harry's ire being directed at him for prompting the response.

"Lucius always rather envied the opportunity," Severus started to say slowly, "to be anything other than the product of an old line and the representative of an already established name." Severus explained softly. "But not enough to begrudge that I had a name and opportunity to establish on my own terms."

Severus had been trying for months to even get an appointment with the forger to begin the process of designing a professional seal worth casting but when Lucius Malfoy placed the order and it was backed by the former Head of Slytherin and the Headmaster, that closed door had opened.

He was well aware that the difficulty in gaining an audience had been because the forger didn’t make time for “no name half bloods”. Of course, that he had just been officially made the youngest potions master since the fall of Carthage and he had three powerful and influential men who wanted to mark that achievement had helped clear the forger’s schedule.

“Maybe because I wasn’t raised into it,” Harry started to say, “but I really don’t get the _how_ purebloods think their name means anything either way. Aside from leaving their kids with money does it really matter what someone’s family did or didn’t do?” Harry muttered as he set the Black seal aside. “Have we got an owl strong enough to take that to Andromeda?”

“You cannot mean to send that to Andromeda _Tonks_ , Alpha.” Severus’s tone was so incredulous that Harry actually started.

Both Neville and Severus were staring at him. “What? It’s her family…”

“Harry,” Neville began cautiously, “She’s a Black daughter… who married a _half blood_.” They exchanged glances at Harry’s bewildered expression.

“ _I’m_ a halfblood, why do I get to use it if she doesn’t?” Neville and Severus looked at each other significantly and Neville actually nipped the end of his nose thoughtfully for a moment.

“I… have no idea how to explain this to you.” Neville finally admitted slowly. “She just doesn’t, ok, just accept it.”

“No, give me a good reason.” Harry challenged.

“Because there is a very good possibility that one or more of her ancestors left a curse that would make her wish she were dead if she _tried_ to use it.” Neville said, obviously frustrated.

“What? But--” Severus sighed at his alpha’s lack of understanding and stood slowly, approaching his bookcase and removing a file.

“Here, Alpha,” Severus handed it to him, Harry took it with a questioning look, “The language may be a little simplistic for you, however I usually provide this to my first years. It lays out the basic information that most half bloods and muggleborns lack on entering Hogwarts in simple terms.”

“I have two feet of defence, three of transfiguration and still half that potions essay you wanted that I have to check and make sure I haven’t written something stupid before I fell asleep over it. Give me the quick version?”

“Purebloods are bigots, accept it, you will never change it. Here is a simple list on how to survive without them realising you have a muggle mother  and-or father and killing you before you come of age.”

Harry glanced over it thoughtfully. “Clever... “ Harry opened the file to the contents page and read even as Severus recited almost exactly.

“An amalgamation of selected extracts from _Dynamics_ , selected Genealogies, a summary of quidditch and the basic format of a match, a children’s potions introduction, selected essays on spell classification, magical idioms and colloquialisms…” Harry bit his lip as Severus spoke.

“How on earth did you know to put this together or what to put in it?” Severus blinked.

“That, was not difficult. We had planned to publish this as a book on leaving school but never completed it…”

“We?” Neville’s prompt made Harry start, he hadn’t realised that Severus had collated most of the file himself or that there were two editors listed by their initials on the front page until the question made him look.

“Collaborated by SS and LE?” Harry read, tone questioning.

“So, you’re SS, who’s LE?” Neville asked and that was when Harry realised exactly how tired he was that he didn’t realise more quickly even after the significant look Severus fixed him with.

“I was rather surprised to find that she had kept a journal of every single thing she had ever thought odd, twee or culturally shocking for three years before ever attending Hogwarts until well into the NEWT course. It took suffering the incessant questions prefects are _routinely_ inundated with by first years before it occurred to her that other muggle born students did not have their own somewhat irritable local half-blood to ask.”

"Only somewhat?" Harry gently quipped, smiling slightly. "Which chapters are most important at the moment? Yes, I know they all are, or you wouldn't have handed me this, but for the moment?"

"I had yet to mature into a fully fledged belligerent potions master.” Severus paused, and modified his tone, even though Harry hadn’t responded to the sarcasm with more than gentle teasing. “Spell classification, public etiquette and genealogies, I sincerely doubt you require a three page description of a quidditch match in order to be able to accurately describe a bludger.”

Harry bit back a laugh. “Nah, I’ve seen enough of those up close. And I’ve already studied a few etiquette manuals- sort of. I just don’t care enough about not offending some old biddy or some random politician to do as they say.”

Neville snorted at the declaration.

“Gran’s going to love you Harry, she hates all that nonsense too.” Harry stared for several seconds, it suddenly occurred to him that he’d done the right thing in throwing out the etiquette manual when writing to the woman. The seal in his hand was proof enough of that. “Says it’s all fake, and she likes to see people as they are. She taught me it so I’d know how to handle it, and to be skeptical of it.”

“I like her already.”

-

  
Harry blinked awake from their nap and nodded in thanks to Winky who popped away without a word. He glanced across Severus’ still sleeping form to meet his Beta’s eyes with a smirk. He knew that as soon as either he or Neville moved, Severus would wake. Neville tipped his chin slightly towards the bathroom, Harry nodded.  
  
Neville moved and Severus came awake at once. Harry gave him the few seconds he needed to catalogue his surroundings and judge himself not in danger or being threatened. His Omega relaxed into the bed and Neville pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before leaning across him and doing the same to Harry before sliding out of bed.  
  
“Anyone need the loo first?” Neville asked and Severus paused in the act of sitting up.  
  
“I can wait," Harry said, shaking his head. Severus merely copied his Alpha’s gesture and Neville vanished through the door.  
  
“Eh Nev? Water’s very cold right as it is switched on!” Harry called the warning through the door. Seconds later Severus paled and Harry snickered at the yelp.  
  
Severus eased out of bed and flicked a glance at the simple clock on a shelf above the wardrobe. He swallowed hard, “My apologies, Alpha. I meant to be awake much earlier. Breakfast may be slightly delayed.”  
  
“It’ll be fine, Severus.” Harry assured even as the omega dipped his head and vacated the bedroom. Harry stared after the older man and then shook his head as a clatter of pans and the soft squeak of a hinge could be heard from the kitchenette.  
  
Harry moved to the chair where a fresh set of clothing had been laid out for both him and Neville -- nothing more than slacks, a button down in neutral white, and smart jumpers. Harry noted that Neville was going to be wearing black semi formal trousers, white collared shirt, and a Gryffindor red jumper. His own choices were grey suit trousers, white shirt, and a black jumper.

They weren’t exactly dressing for company, and the company _was_ Hermione. So he figured that would be good enough, trusting Winky knew what she was setting out for them. He frowned when he realised there was nothing for Severus and called Winky absently to ask her.

“Master is not wishing to choose his Omega’s clothing hisself?” Winky asked, head tilted in question.

“Er,” Harry sighed, he’d forgotten about that stupid tradition, “does he have anything similar; comfortable, passing for semi formal that he doesn’t have to wear robes over to look smart in?” Winky moved to the small and, Harry noted a little sadly, mostly empty wardrobe. Two sets of Severus’ usual teaching robes hung alongside three or four formal shirts, a few pairs of formal trousers and two jumpers at the end, one decidedly Slytherin green and the other black. Everything but the green jumper looked worn and tellingly faded at the angle it took under the bright lighting of the room. He reached in and pulled the most comfortable looking trousers which were a dark charcoal colour and may have been black once upon a time, and shirt which looked to have been bleached within an inch of its life to keep it white along with the green jumper and laid them on the bed.

“Winky? Where do wizards shop for regular clothes? Not robes, just general stuff?”

“Same kind of places muggles do I imagine, Har,” Neville mumbled through the towel he was using to dry his hair. “Why?”

Harry gestured vaguely at Severus’ wardrobe and Neville sighed.

“We could make a day of the robe fitting and overhaul his wardrobe in Paris?” Neville offered. “There’s some quality places over there that won’t mind dealing with a bonded omega too much.” Harry nodded.

“Sounds good.” He moved through to the kitchen when he heard something clatter ominously. “Severus, what—?” Harry stared, Severus was cooking… Harry wasn’t sure he wanted to know when his Omega had decided that was a good idea.

Harry stepped into the kitchen to find Severus trying to juggle keeping the eggs from burning, making the bacon brown and getting to the toaster in time to stop the bread going rock solid before it was buttered. He moved forward quickly and turned down the heat on the eggs to stop them spitting even as Severus jumped out of his way and turned up the grill setting on the front of the cooker.

“Alpha, I-“ Severus started to say. Harry glanced up to find Severus’s expression stricken. Severus, for his part, was mentally berating himself for not rising earlier and getting this done. Despite being a Potions Master, something his mother had encouraged in the hopes it would translate into skill over the hob, Severus had never managed to master cooking on electric with any finesse and it resulted in a somewhat chaotic kitchen every time he tried- it was one of the reasons Albus had simply told him to order from the elves to his suite on a weekend and be done with it but Alpha had wanted breakfast and Severus had been _trying_ to do it.

“Here let me-“ Severus jumped back and caught himself worrying his lip between his teeth nervously. He wasn’t sure he understood why Alpha had involved himself in Omega’s work. He’d ordered Severus to have breakfast made so there was no reason for him to get involved.

“Alpha,I-” Harry caught the pained look and fixed Severus with a concerned expression.

“I’ll cook you go get showered,” Severus stared at the order, he couldn’t work it out. Why wouldn’t Alpha let him try? The kitchen might be a little messy but he would get there and produce something edible given the chance.

“But Alpha,” Severus tried again, “it is not your duty to-“

Harry blinked. _Duty_? He glanced down at the cooker and figured it out for himself.

“Severus, I expected you to order so you could tell the elf how you like it yourself- not actually cook it,” Severus let out a low sound of confusion, “it’s not your _duty_ to cook and skivvy after us either. I certainly don't expect you to fetch and carry after me, or to be some kind of barefoot housekeeper unless that what you actually want... and let’s be honest, no one who works the way you have wants to retire to a hot kitchen and live chained to the cooker.” Rather than being reassured as Harry expected Severus lost all colour from his expression, took a halting step back and dipped his head. “Hey, what-“

“Harry?” Neville called from the doorway, “quick word if Severus doesn’t mind watching the eggs for you?” Harry glanced at Severus who already had his hand on the frying pan handle and wouldn’t look at him. “ _Now_ , Harry.” Neville added significantly and Harry followed.

The moment Neville had Harry back in the bedroom he closed the door and rounded on his Alpha.

“Harry you need to be careful about saying things like that to him.” Neville said without hesitating.

“Things like what? Have you seen that kitchen, he’s been in there five minutes it looks like a bomb hit it- He clearly doesn’t want to cook and he’s not that good at it.” Harry wasn’t seeing what the problem in letting Severus know that Harry didn’t intend to treat him like a house elf was. They had house elves that not only wanted to cook but we’re good at it and Harry were more inclined to let them do it. 

"Harr... the choices for _most_ bonded Omegas are serve in the kitchen or serve in bed... and the second is often far too brutal to speak about... because most Alphas only drag their Omega’s kicking and screaming into their beds to produce a child... otherwise? It _i_ _s_ the kitchen for the Omega in question." Harry stared at Neville’s words, not quite understanding how Neville thought that Severus hadn’t yet managed to grasp that Harry wasn’t going to brutalise him. “His mother will have told him, _make yourself a mother in the kitchen and your alpha will be less likely to demand you whore yourself in the bedroom._ ” Harry blinked, he’d heard something similar to that when Vernon was drunk and flirting outrageously with Petunia in front of guests, usually after someone had complimented the cooking and she’d taken credit. Harry had watched Petunia simper and smile graciously while Vernon extolled her _womanly virtues_ enough times for any reminder of the expression to make his skin crawl. “Why do you think Ron suddenly got so interested in learning to cook after the battle, he realised he was a prime target for Alphas and he needed something to stop them chaining him to the bed and killing him.”

Harry felt his stomach roll at the thought of someone doing that to Ron. He’d kill them, _he’d rip their lungs out with his bare hands_ if they tried. 

Harry stared. "Shit. alright let me fix this." And Harry stepped back into the room with Severus, he tried not to wince when Severus flinched under his touch. Severus kept his head bowed even as he turned back to Harry.

"Hey," Severus whimpered as if he was preemptively reacting to expected pain, "you want to cook you cook, but you don't have to do anything you don't want to. In this room, or in that one." Harry nodded at the bedroom door and Severus let out a piteous sound that just didn’t suit him even clad in soft pyjamas with his hair pulled back into whatever style he called wrapping something around it to hold it out of the way while whisps escaped and framed his face.

“Look at me Omega,” Harry ordered softly as he took the eggs from the heat and shuffled the bacon pan without looking, Severus finally met his eyes after a moment, “I don’t expect anything from you, you’re not my house elf,” Harry glanced at the bedroom door, “or my fucktoy,” Severus winced at the crude delivery as Harry reached forward and cupped his chin gently with his free hand, “I just want you to be you, the man I fell in love with- that’s all.” Severus pined softly.

“I can cook,” he started to say obviously having completely missed the point Harry was making, “Please Alpha, I’m better on gas when I can manage the heat- I learned on an old gas-“ and that was when Harry realised that Severus was actually panicking.

“Nev, would you?” Harry gestured to the cooker as he pulled his Omega away from the heat. Severus was clinging almost desperately to him as Harry led his to a chair and pushed him into it before kneeling in front of him. Severus looked so lost for a moment- it was heartbreaking. His hands were shaking when harry took them in his own.

“I can cook, Alpha,” Severus started to say, “I am a Potions Master it is not so different…” Harry sighed at the low mumble, he knew genuine shame when he saw it and Severus looked close to tears.

“Severus are you hearing me?” He asked gently and Severus eyes darted to him and then away before he nodded. “I’m trying to tell you that I don’t expect anything like this from you,” Severus visibly stiffened, “all I want from you is to be yourself.” Harry bit his lip and glanced up at Neville who was poking a sausage and wearing an expression as if he expected it to poke him back. “Severus we have house elves, you don’t _have_ to cook if you don’t want to, I enjoy it so I do it, Nev likes gardening so he might do that in our own place but you don’t have to do anything you aren’t comfortable with.” Severus opened his mouth and then closed it again nervously. Harry waited.

“I am a Potions Master…” the low mutter made harry want to hit his head against a wall.

“So?” Severus blinked owlishly at him. “I can cook up a storm but you and I both know that if you leave me with a cauldron too long I’ll blow it up. I don’t understand the theory behind Potions, never tried to really, but I understand cooking. I’ve cooked on electric before, it’s a nightmare if you’re not used to it so I’m not surprised it got you flustered.” Severus flushed furiously at Harry’s assessment.

 “I fell in love with your sense of humour,” Harry said softly, “the man who can hold a room with barely a whisper, scribbled made up spells in a textbook, and lied to Umbridge for us, I fell in love with the man I watched put the Minister for Magic in his place with three words or less then put himself at the front lines of a war without thinking twice.” Severus had gone very still as he listened to Harry list his virtues. “I fell for the man who inspired loyalty in his Slytherins so powerful they were queueing up to throw themselves in Azkaban for you, some of them over their own parents… do you know how special you have to be for me to call a truce with _Malfoy_ for you? For me to take him threatening me lying down and respect him for doing it?” Severus quirked his shoulder in a poor imitation of a shrug. “Now knowing all of that, do you really think I care if you can cook or not?”

“I am an Omega…” Severus managed weakly, he was still avoiding looking up and Harry had a nasty feeling that if he did his eyes would be glassy.

“Oh for-“ Harry cut off the curse that had been on the tip of his tongue abruptly when Severus flinched violently.

 “It is expected…” Severus voice was trembling slightly and Harry sighed.

 “Who expects it?” Severus didn’t speak for a moment.

 “It is expected,” he repeated softly, “social convention…”

 “If I have to ask you this every day until you get it I will, tell me, when have I ever given a flying _fuck_ about society or what it thinks of me?” Severus’s shoulders were trembling a little and his hand was shaking under Harry’s own. Harry softened. “Severus, talk to me, why is this so difficult for you?”

 “I have seen the damage social isolation, I have seen what it does to even the best of men…” he was trying to avoid it, his mother hadn’t wanted him to make her mistakes and he was trying but it wasn’t working and he already knew where this path lead if he didn’t get off it now. He didn’t want to live like that. _He’d never wanted to live like that._

“Oh?” Neville had finally figured out how to turn heat off on the cooker and plate up the food and was watching from where he was leaning against the countertop

“She had house elves, never learned…” Harry almost had to lean in to hear Severus speak his voice had dropped so low, “he grew to hate her for it, she was weak and useless to him, isolated from her family and he…” Severus glanced up at the cooker, he’d never bothered with it after the first few disasters- it had never occurred to him that he might live _here_ with an Alpha, or that an Alpha would even know what electricity was to have it in their home with the gene being so rare in half-bloods and muggleborns, or he might have applied himself better to mastering it. “He lost his job, nearly lost the house save for the welfare state because he would not accept help…” Tobias had once been a good man who had refused all help with his baby son and comatose wife from sheer stubborn pride. It had driven him to drink when it had become obvious that the industry had moved along without him and his name had been blackened by that choice by the time Severus was in nursery school. He had been too young to understand at the time but his mother’s inability to run a proper home on a reasonable budget had become even more apparent and cause for even more shouting matches by then

Harry wasn’t seeing the connection. 

“Her inadequacy destroyed him, I will not…” Harry squeezed his omega’s hand lightly. “I swore I would not.”

“Well, it's a good job you're perfect just as you are then, isn’t it.” Harry quipped and Severus let out a low bitter laugh. “Well, perfect for me, anyway.”  
  
“I am twenty years your senior, and the fact you find me appealing perplexes me. I am the bat of the dungeons… the bane of your House…”  
  
“And exactly what I need in an Omega, Severus.” The older man opened his mouth and Harry shook his head as he pressed a gentle fingertip to Severus's lips to shush his doubts. “What I require in an Omega you fulfill better than anyone else ever could.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEWSNEWSNEWSNEWS!
> 
> 1; we have a beta! Thank you FeatherMoonstone for your work on this chapter, 22 on it's way to you soon  
> 2; we have all but finished the rough draft of this fic and the plot is set... I am excited for this!  
> 3; HecatesKiss had a birthday last week, don't forget to wish her belated many happy returns in the reviews!  
> 4; I am starting work on my MA dissertation, this may eat into writing time - we'll try to keep posting semi-regular (she says on a chapter that is over a week late- oops!).


	22. Chapter 22

Severus stared down at the plate beta had put in front of him and let himself take a moment to wonder at the marvel that he’d been allowed anything at all. Everything he had expected of this dynamic was slowly falling apart and Severus, for the first time in his life, was struggling to adapt to the rapidly changing situation.

“You ok there?” Beta actually nudged him lightly in the side with his elbow and Severus jumped, hand half raised defensively before he unclenched it and lowered it slowly.

“Thinking,” he murmured softly and cast a look over his knuckles.

“Penny for them?” Harry asked softly, noting the faraway look Severus had adopted.

“What?”

“Muggle expression, Nev,” Harry offered, “um...knut for your thoughts?” Neville nodded his understanding.

“I am simply,” Severus murmured, “unused to… this.” He gestured vaguely.

“How do you mean?”

Severus shook his head slightly.

“I will adapt, perhaps the Season is impeding…” Severus twitched slightly, and Harry and Neville exchanged looks. Neville tapped his temple lightly as if to indicate that he thought something was happening in Severus’s mind. Harry nodded. He’d learned to manage it, and the absences had slowly eased after the battle, but he knew what they looked like after watching Hermione suffer too.

“Omega,” Severus blinked rapidly but didn’t look at him or respond, “what are you hearing?” Severus made a thoughtful sound but didn’t answer. “Severus?” Harry and Neville exchanged another look. Severus jumped suddenly on hearing his name called and started as he glanced around rapidly. “You ok?”

“Yes, alpha I-“ Severus bit down an explanation when he realised none were needed judging by the careful expressions on either side of him.

“Do you know what set you off?” Alpha’s voice was soft and soothing, it felt like irritation crawling under Severus’s skin and had anyone else spoken like that he would have snarled something vicious and dodged the question.

“I… have no idea.” He murmured instead, “perhaps I am still overtired.” Alpha nodded.

“I can see that, once Hermione’s been I think we could all do with a few more hours sleep.”

“I have marking to complete, my fifth years…”

“Can wait.” Harry firmed up his tone slightly. “That wasn’t an idle suggestion, Omega.” And Severus folded under the order. Nodding once as if he’d barely heard it at all. “Eat your breakfast, little one.” It took two attempts for Severus to successfully stab a sausage with his fork, he seemed to have forgotten entirely that there was a knife by his other hand.

-

Harry was so busy watching Severus eat that he didn’t hear the first round of Hermione’s distinctive knock on the door. The second time both he and Severus jumped up, wands drawn, and Neville stared at them both. Harry was just grateful Severus was reacting to anything, it usually took him longer to come back from an absence like he’d just witnessed Severus go through.

Harry eyed Severus for a second and then sank back into his chair, nodding to Severus to get the door. He tossed out the reminder, “Hermione is expected.”

Severus stalked to the door and pulled it open, “Ah, Ms Granger. Do come in.”

Harry glanced at ermione for a moment, automatically assessing and then he smiled in welcome as Severus shut the door and turned. Harry’s attention immediately shifted to the fact that Severus’s hands had gone behind his back and his head was down.

Harry and Neville exchanged a look, even as Neville reached for Severus’s plate. Harry nodded and gestured, and Neville slid the plate closer to his right hand. “There’s still extra, Mione. Go ahead. Plates are the second cupboard to the left. Glasses and tea mugs are to the right of that.”

When Hermione’s fingers closed around a purple mug, Severus made a small noise that was hastily strangled back.

“Not the purple one, Mione. Nobody right now has blue?” Harry suggested, hearing the noise and understanding instantly who that mug probably had belonged to.  Harry could only think of one person, alive or dead, who would even want to drink from the bright purple monstrosity Hermione had almost taken down without looking.  He had a red mug, Neville was drinking from an odd grey, Severus had a black cup of coffee, so blue made sense from what he remembered being in the cupboard. He watched as Severus relaxed when the blue cup was pulled down.

“Cutlery?” Hermione asked as she fixed her plate from the platters still on the counter.

“First drawer below the glassware, Ms Granger.” Hermione nodded her thanks and turned back to grab a fork and a knife.

She sat when Neville waved her to Severus vacated chair and started to rise when Severus shook his head slightly. Neville only nodded as Severus moved in and picked up her mug, retreating back to the counter.

“There is coffee, tea, milk, or pumpkin juice, Ms Granger.”

“Tea if you would, Professor. Thank you.”

“How do you take it?”

“heavy on the milk, and a teaspoon of honey,” Harry responded with a fond smile at his best friend.

Hermione murmured a thank you to the professor when he set the mug down and stepped back. She then paused with a bit of sausage stuck to the end of her tines as she counted place settings. Her gaze snapped to Harry and her lips pursed.

“Come here, Omega-Mine,” Harry said, having slid his chair back to get the door, then recalling where he was, forcing himself to remain in the seat.

Severus obeyed, and his gaze dipped to the floor. Harry merely reached out a hand and gently drew the older man into his lap. Harry reached around Severus and picked up Severus’s black mug. The man took it without a word of protest and sipped.

Harry then picked up Severus’ plate and balanced the fork on the edge as he put it before his Omega. “Eat.”

Harry then returned to his own plate before he met his best friend’s gaze again, silently asking if she was satisfied.

Severus stared down at the fork and had to bite back a whimper, alpha must be mad, this must be some kind of test, and Severus wasn’t sure how to pass it.

“I said eat, omega,” Harry muttered quietly as he picked up his own tea and drank. “Hermione’s seen me naked, I promise she won’t be shocked by you having breakfast.”

Hermione and Neville both spluttered, and Harry smirked at them, he’d deliberately said that loud enough for them to hear.

“Context, Harry!” Hermione chastised, mirth lifting her lips into a laugh she wiped at them before swiping playfully at his shoulder.

“Drowned rat, and probably blue. You and Ron had to strip me after I got that sword.” Harry said with a little nod. He made a noise of approval as Severus hesitantly picked up his fork and took a bite from his plate.

Severus froze when Master’s guest got to her feet and plucked the jar of marmalade off the counter and returned to the table. He felt shame sour his stomach… he was an Omega, he could serve…  he hadn’t realised that he’d half mumbled that last thought aloud until alpha stiffened under him.

“Shh. Hush Omega-Mine. I am your Alpha. Only that.” Harry murmured  when he felt Severus stiffen momentarily,  pointedly ignoring the horrified stare Hermione was throwing him and using his free hand to rub slow circles at the older man’s hip, which would be hidden by the folds of his sweater.

“Harry, I have to say, even blue, you were a fine example of a male.” Hermione quipped once she recovered herself a little. Neville sputtered again, and Severus stared. His Alpha only laughed at him and took the slice of toast slathered with marmalade from Hermione’s offering hand.  She was good at diffusing tension like that and after seeing Harry’s expression darken she’d obviously decided that she needed to say something to cover the awkward quiet.

“You two keep feeding me I won’t stay that way,” he suggested jokingly then took a pointed bite of the toast.

“I’m sure neither Neville nor the Professor will mind a little bit of fat over that muscle. You are still rather thin, Harry.” Hermione scolded gently. Harry just sighed and switched to his eggs.

“Perfectly done.” Harry murmured quickly scooping up a bite. Severus preened slightly at the compliment,  he knew full well that alpha had done that deliberately to try distract him as he idly glanced at Alpha’s plate, judging how much food still existed. He was mentally timing out how long it took his Alpha to eat and figuring how much time that gave him to choke down some of the food even with his stomach in knots.

“Oh, this  _ is _ good,” Hermione said after she had swallowed a bit of the sausage. “Crispy on the edges...mmm.”

“What I want to know… how’d you figure out I like my eggs solid, Severus?” Neville asked, gesturing with his fork and addressing the Omega directly.

“I asked Winky to make certain I had it correct, Beta,” Severus responded, sliding a mushroom smoothly onto his Alpha’s plate.

Severus blinked when his Alpha stabbed a bit of the black pudding on his plate and then held the fork to Severus’ lips -- the command implicit. Severus opened his mouth and let his Alpha feed him.

“A wonderful meal, Professor, though I’m not surprised a Potions Master can cook.” Hermione flicked a smile towards the usually dour man, and Severus dipped his head. He made a move to slide from his Alpha’s lap when Neville stood to get more tea.

“No, Severus. Stay where you are.” Neville murmured, gaze shifting to their Alpha. Severus obeyed and continued eating. Severus paused though when Ms Granger used her wand to flick a mushroom from her plate and send it towards his Alpha.

Harry snagged it from the air and held it for a moment. Severus did his best not to stare at Ms Granger, because… a wand produced at a table …  _ as a guest?! _ He traded a scandalised glance with their Beta as the man refilled his mug of coffee and placed it once more in his hands. Severus side-eyed the mushroom but resigned himself to trying to eat it.

Harry just popped the mushroom into his own mouth and chewed. Once he had swallowed, he commented, "You forget, I had to figure out a way to stay sane and not be completely distracted for months in a tent with Ron. Hermione having her wand out at a meal is pretty standard."

"Stop lying Harry, you know it was never about controlling you. Stopping Ron choking himself though..." Harry snorted amusedly but realised that Severus was only clutching at his mug again.

"True.. that was an almost daily occurrence though." Harry shrugged and reached for the jam and a knife with his free hand, and gently prompted his omega again .  "Go ahead, Severus. There is no way that a woman who has seen me starkers, shivering with cold, and nearly drowned will be shocked by you actually eating food."

As Neville retook his seat, he met Hermione’s perplexed gaze , “Nineteen twelve, remember?"

Severus froze, a bit of bacon halfway to his mouth, knowing how quickly the woman could read, he looked away, shame swirling through him. He had  _ failed _ his Alpha even as he obeyed. She would know exactly which rules he was shattering with his behaviour.

"Oh... right. That reminds me... Harry? I will borrow  one of Ginny's spoons if you screw this up. Get me?"

"Got it. Yes, Mione. No Mione. I wouldn't  _ dare _ , Mione." Severus turned his head, he could smell real concern rising from his Alpha.

"Spoon?" and Harry was so surprised Severus said it he answered without thinking.

"Ginny once threatened to kill one of her brothers with a spoon... quipped that it would take longer."

"And after everything settled with the war being done... George got her a set of spoons in a case. The lid just says  _ Potential Murder Weapons _ .”

"Of course," Severus mused, voice barely breaking above a whisper as if expecting a blow for daring at all, "it is blunt, it would hurt more."

Harry just chuckled and nodded. "Exactly."

“So… Harry? Why this?” She asked gesturing carefully with her fork towards how Severus was perched in his Alpha’s lap, picking at his breakfast.

"Hermione? Why do salmon swim upstream to spawn?"

"Instinct."

"Yeah. That's the thing. Certain bits? Just are. I can't explain why I want certain things certain ways -- and no it's not a nurture thing -- cause the Dursleys never did this."

"Didn't we have this conversation last night Harry? How is it instinct if it changes with every new edition of that damned book." And Severus flinched because 'that damned book' was his bible growing up, he knew it was a weird sort of attachment to it that made him kind of sensitive.  Yet he kept his mouth shut, knowing the Guest had every right to say whatever she wished about him. He had no right to defend himself without his Alpha’s express permission even though he was offended because  that book had taught him how to survive and thrive and hopefully how to be of some use.

"There is an instinct to serve. I will give you that much... because it shows up in little ways -- how many mornings did Ron bring me my tea? Or bring you your bag when you finished a book?"

"Or tried to get you to stay down after that one concussion?" Hermione returned thoughtfully.

"He sat on me... that was more than trying to serve... I think that was trying to smother me, really."  Harry’s tone was fondly exasperated. Hermione just smirked and nodded as she sipped her tea.

"Just like I've got the instinct to protect, it's ingrained. but it's badly understood because no one ever thought to actually ask those of us living it instead of assuming." Harry muttered. "and now we're on the topic, you did come down here for a reason."

"I was waiting for you and the Professor to finish, Harry. And I know you are mostly done... didn't want to rush him any. I'm the guest here after all."

And Severus froze again, a forkful of egg suspended, unthinkingly staring at her...he was for it now, alpha couldn’t possibly stand that. Omegas were supposed to barely be noticed; not settled in their Alpha's lap, unless it was to be in a position to offer Alpha pleasure and that didn’t usually require being clothed. He couldn’t help the shudder that rippled through him at that thought.

"Hush, Omega-Mine.” Alpha murmured in his ear, “You aren't in trouble. Mione? Would you mind filling his mug again? Nev? Since I'm comfortable where I am?"

"Well, Severus did cook, so I guess I'll clear. That'll leave you the washing up?" Neville asked, eyebrows rising with a teasing smirk chasing after.

"Of course. Easy enough that." Harry agreed readily, linking his arms around his Omega's middle and giving a gentle squeeze.

Harry dipped his head behind Severus's ear and spoke deliberately enough that Hermione wouldn't hear or even realise he was talking.

"You’re ok in front of Hermione, Omega, she won't judge us." Severus wasn’t paying attention, he couldn’t believe he was watching their Beta clean when he was sat right there, and it was making him feel slightly ill.

As Neville took Harry's plate, he didn’t touch Severus’s. He leant in close enough to brush a kiss against Severus' cheek and murmur softly.

“Nobody is judging  _ you  _ for this.  Remember, academic knowledge. So our Dynamic is… interesting to her. And? She'd try to throttle  _ Harry  _ if she thought you were doing all the cleaning, Professor."

And Harry smiled into Sev’s neck because  _ great minds _ , he laughed outright when Neville straightened, fixed Severus with the sternest look he could manage and said: "A cup of coffee and half a mouthful of black pudding is not breakfast Omega.”

Harry opened his mouth to say something, and Neville shoved a sausage at him, "Don't you start, don't think I didn't notice you ate less than a bird as well."

As the breakfast dishes were piled into the sink and left-overs were transferred to containers and then into the fridge, Hermione leant forward, “Well, Harry, Professor? At least I know Neville will take care of both of you.”

Turning away to hide her smile, because Harry still has a sausage sticking out of his mouth in affronted shock, “Hey, Neville? Have you considered a nutrition plan for them? I could help draw one up for Harry... but I'd need certain information about the Professor -- only if he felt comfortable sharing..."

Harry bit down on the sausage and pulled the end from his mouth so he could speak once he’d chewed and swallowed it. "I've got one, Poppy and Pye sorted me out last year- I just don't follow it well, even when the only rule seems to be 'for god’s sake just eat something and semi-regularly sometimes’.”

Harry heard the soft grumble Severus made at that and pulled a face and groaned, "Great... Neville? I think you just got double back up on this... cause I recognise that noise out of Sev. I give up... go for it."

"God help us a-" and Severus bit down his tongue to stop himself finishing that sentence; he'd forgotten for a moment that he wasn't free to speak his mind anymore, but Alpha laughed and actually kissed him almost tenderly on the head as if he found the slip amusing instead of deeply shameful.

"Let me guess... I'm going to feel like a turkey at Christmas, aren't I?" Harry asked with a chuckle. Hermione nodded, and Severus shifted ever so slightly on his lap.

"And do not apologise, Omega-Mine. You did nothing wrong there." Harry murmured against the back of his Omega's neck, and he felt the older man sag into him just enough for Harry to register the change in weight. “Your mind, remember?”

Severus nodded tightly, he remembered he just wasn’t sure he believed it with hormones raging and his instincts yanking at him.

“Harry? You also made enough quips about his tongue too… though I’m now wondering about context.” Hermione murmured, and Severus could only blush even as he stared in wide-eyed shock.

“He’s a fantastic kisser, isn’t he, Harr?” Neville commented with a grin. It was Hermione’s turn to stare between the Alpha and Beta in disbelief.

“Is that, how is that even possible at this stage?” Hermione demanded, and Harry caught the rage.

“What exactly did you read last night after we left, Mione?” Harry asked as he nudged Severus to the slice of toast on the edge of his plate.

“There are back copies of  _ Dynamics _ in the library, Harry. It wasn’t that hard to find a pre-war copy.”

“Of course it wasn’t  _ for you, _ between you and Madam Pince you practically built the whole thing.”  Apparently, Hermione didn’t find Harry’s observation funny right now.

Severus only twitched slightly as he took up the toast and nibbled on it to appease his Alpha. He sighed slightly and eyed the rest of his plate with unease. There was too much for him to even contemplate finishing the plate without becoming sick.  Which would defeat the purpose of him eating in the first place.

“Don’t make yourself sick, Omega. Harry’d have my head.” Neville quipped, quickly reaching for the plate, but waiting for the older man’s nod before he removed it.

“Very good, Omega-Mine.” Harry murmured, absently petting at Severus’ hip as most of his attention was fixed on Hermione.  “Now where did I put that list last night?” He was sure he’d left it out after handing it to Severus. He didn’t get chance to move before it came fluttering through the kitchen door from the living room, he hadn’t even noticed Severus flex his wrist to summon it without a word.

“Harry, either you are moving  _ incredibly _ fast… or I have a reason to dig out a spoon.” Hermione threatened.

“Hermione? What do you think our Alpha has done, to either of us?” Neville asked, voice deceptively mild.

“Harry claimed the Professor on Thursday night. It’s barely Sunday. Barely. From my own research, the fact that the Professor was even teaching is a miracle. The fact the Professor  _ permits _ you to touch him, Neville… is… well…” Hermione trailed off and just  _ glared _ .

“Ms Granger, the day my Alpha  _ forces _ my Beta to  _ mate _ with me is the day he’s dead in the ground.” Severus managed, keeping his tone calm even as his delivery was razored.

Neville stared at Hermione openly.

“Oh Merlin you thought…” he shot a look at Harry who was equally horrified.

“Harry? That… that…  _ book _ is going to leave you enraged and sick, and probably disgusted with the world.”

“ Tell me something I don’t know.” Harry shot back. “And you were right about the bloodline instinct, by the way.”

Severus just flushed and dropped his gaze as Hermione made a considering noise. “Huh. Now, before I learn any more than I  _ ever _ want to about what goes on behind closed doors with you… list?”

Severus merely offered the scroll he had wandlessly summoned to his Alpha.

“Ok, so, from the top. Eating and food.” Hermione summarised quickly.

“No restrictions,  no need to check with me.” Harry murmured into Severus’s ear. “I do expect you to actually eat well and take whatever potions you need though.” Hermione scribbled something when she heard that. Harry glanced over.

_ Medical potions to be taken on schedule, meals to be regular _

“I can live with that,  and snacks are also fine.”  Hermione scribbled another note and then looked up expectantly.

“You ok with that?” Harry asked Severus quietly and got a mute nod in return.

“The no rule. Thoughts?” Hermione prompted, and Harry felt Severus stiffen.  Harry automatically stroked Severus’ hip.

“You can tell me no at any time, little one. Especially if I do something that sets you off.” Harry said, voice steady but carefully stripped of anything that could be read as a command.

Severus took in a low, fortifying breath and nodded again, he was not in the mood to argue right now- especially in front of an outsider

“Omega, Hermione is Pack. She is family. That means, technically, this is within Dynamic. Speak your mind before it sets our Alpha off.” Neville counselled, and Severus’s gaze snapped to the Beta before he mutely shook his head.

“Neville is right, Professor. I’m not going to judge Harry for anything you do or say. Though, I may just drag Harry out of the room to scream at him, because…  _ seriously  _ Harry?”

Harry lifted both hands in a move  designed to placate her . “I’ve not laid down rules that don’t let him speak, Mione. I don’t know.”  Severus made a low sound and flinched. Harry put his arms around him lightly.

“Hey,” Severus didn’t look up, “Is this something in your training Omega?” Severus nodded weakly, and Harry sighed. “Do you have a copy of the nineteen twelve manual?” Another nod. “Fetch it for me, Omega?” Harry tapped Severus’s back to encourage him to move, and Severus obeyed without a word. He went straight to his office.

“Harry,” Hermione hissed. “You can’t just order him around like that!”

“I’m giving him a minute to pull himself together, give me some credit Hermione!” Harry ground out through gritted teeth.

“He’s perfectly composed, Harry!”

“Quiet, Ms Granger. He’s really not. I can see little tells from him. And sitting on Harry’s lap? Harry could probably feel more.” Neville said, voice cold. Hermione glared, offended at being reduced to the last name again.

“How?”

“Him going quiet like that is a horrible sign.” Neville continued. “He’d sometimes do it during that year. Now I wonder if he was sick in private.  He used to just glare at the Carrows sometimes when they got it into their heads to torture us, I can just imagine what watching them do that to kids did to him…” Neville commented

“How do you mean?”

“He’s an omega, his instinct is to have kids and protect them, Dear Merlin, all those years snarling at us? No wonder he always looked so sick and thin, it was probably killing him.”

“He almost took my head off last night, when he protected you, Nev. So he’s struggling with training right now. Because what I want goes completely backwards to what he knows.” Harry sighed.

Harry shook his head when the door clicked open again. He accepted the book when it was offered, set it on the table and then pulled Severus gently back into his lap.

“Show me what’s in effect right now, Severus,” Harry told him lightly, it was hardly an order at all, but Severus picked up the book and opened it with an air of confidence. Harry shot a look at Neville. Neville nodded and mouthed ‘told you, keep directing him.’

Severus tipped the book slightly and tapped a paragraph, which helpfully highlighted. He then handed it to his Alpha and ducked his head.

Harry skimmed the paragraph and made himself not tense as the words registered. “Chuck it, Omega-Mine. I am not going to put you on your knees simply because she is outside our immediate dynamic and a friend of mine. Also, this ‘speaks only if there is something wrong?’ We are  _ pack _ , little one. You speak your mind to me, to Neville… to  _ anyone _ in our pack. No repercussions.”

Severus’s eyes were wide for a moment, and then Harry saw the shutters come down as if Severus were feigning indifference or hiding something.  He almost completely missed the sound of Hermione’s quill scratching for a moment as she made note of his most recent declaration.  Even Severus’s scent had gone cold. It sent a shiver through Harry.

“Harry!”

“Alpha!”

Harry blinked and frowned against Severus’ neck, even as he felt Severus shiver in his arms. “Beta?”

“You almost went feral there, Harry. That was the third time Hermione called your name. Why?” Neville asked, voice carefully respectful.

“I accept whatever--”

“Oh no, you don’t.” Harry snapped out, stopping Severus mid-sentence . “Hermione? How would an Alpha react to an occluding omega, do you think?”

Severus whimpered, he hadn’t even realised he was doing it when he’d tried to take back his self-control. Harry froze.

“Oh. You can’t read him when he does that… your instincts are seeing it as lying, Harr.” Neville said.

Harry stared. It had never occurred to him that Severus occluding would be any different than the way he masked his scent, he‘d honestly thought it was the same thing.

“But,” Harry leant back down over Severus’s neck and pressed his lips over the mark,  “Do you think that’s what constantly set me off? Remember all those times I came back to the tower just boiling mad?”

“Professor,” Hermione asked softly, well aware that speaking to Severus right now when Harry was holding him so tightly might get her into a dangerous situation, “did you ever occlude during our potions lessons?”

Severus only nodded and whined, closing his eyes as his Alpha’s arms tightened around him. He twitched when he felt his Alpha’s tongue trace over the bruise that marked him as Potter’s.

“Okay, that explains a lot. Is that just a Harry thing, or did every Alpha end up pissy when the Professor was occluding?”

“Could always ask Malf…” Harry trailed off feeling the blood drain from his face as the thought occurred to him, “could we have been taking it out on each other?” Neville’s eyes went wide.

“That’s a hell of a reaction if you did, Har, you two used to go for the throats.”

When Severus made a low noise and tried to scramble off Harry’s lap, his Alpha’s arms turned unyielding. “Sick.”

Harry immediately let him go, and Severus fled the room. Neville followed without even a glance towards Harry or Hermione.

“Any clue?” Hermione asked.  Harry closed his eyes and nodded grimly. He didn’t have to think about the answer-- it was obvious, at least to him . “Death Eater meetings. Probably full of Alphas. Put an actively occluding omega in the middle. What happens to any innocents in the line of fire?”

Hermione went green. “He’s not going to blame himself for their lunacy, is he?” Harry shrugged. “Harry! You can’t let him do that.” Harry opened his mouth and gestured vaguely before he closed it.

“What do you suggest Hermione? Facts are facts. If him occluding drove Alphas mad around him? It’s a fair assumption… even if I don’t like it.”

“Oh, Harry.” She shook her head, “So, what initially set you off?”

“Perfect behaviour. Don’t speak, don’t draw attention, don’t argue, defer,  _ kneel at your Alpha’s feet _ .” Harry snarled the last. Hermione stared as if she hadn’t quite understood. “I saw enough of him kneeling when I was in Voldemort's head, I don’t want or need him to do it now.”

“It is considered the ultimate respect, Harry.” Hermione said, reaching out a hand to place it over Harry’s clenched fist.

“It’s tainted for me, Mione. I only get flashes of that bastard.” Harry shook his head and slumped in the chair. “I won’t be him.”

“So… reclaim it then.” Harry frowned at Hermione’s words, not quite grasping what she meant by that. “Make it your own thing. Take it from something he does as a show of obedience to … well, Harry? If you only think of it as something he does in the bedroom, you won’t be thinking Voldemort will you?”

Harry went red, matching Hermione’s own expression and shuddered violently at the thought.  “No.”

“Then that won’t be a prob--”

“No, Hermione. Absolutely not. Him going down for punishment turns my stomach. I’m not about to mix that up with… no.” Harry shook his head.

“Harry he needs to submit, you need him to submit. You need to figure out some way to make it work that doesn’t end with him making himself sick with nerves and you raging like you are now.” Harry loved Hermione when she got like this, she knew how to tell him the truth as she saw it and she didn’t mince her words -- it made a nice change to the usual fawning hordes he dealt with beyond their immediate circle.

“Mione? I’ll say this once. I’ve watched him fully offer and submit. That… is beautiful. That is perfect and amazing. The _shit_ in this book? Is nothing but posturing and things that keep scraping at my instincts like that one tree branch in the forest on the tent wall. So what he’s done? Yes, again and again, if he wants to.  _ This _ ? I’d burn it if I didn’t need it to figure him out.” Harry dropped the book on the table and sighed.

“You will burn that book over my  _ cold, dead body _ .” Harry froze, Severus’s tone sent a chill of fear through him, and he couldn’t help it, it aroused him. He deliberately looked away from Hermione.

“Oh really? And you’ll stop me, will you?” Harry couldn’t make himself look away from Severus. He was still pale and his brow was still sheened with sweat but the fire, the heat he’d let loose in the room, was making Harry incapable of taking in anything else.

“If I must.” Severus returned, dark eyes hooded but intent. Harry pushed to his feet and smirked when his Omega didn’t step back from his approach.

“It’s a book… Just a book.” Harry argued. “Why do you care? You’re not Mione.” he ignored Hermione’s sputtered shock, apparently, she didn’t agree that taunting Severus was the right way to handle this situation.

“Men have killed and died for the sake of the contents of a book…” Severus’s voice was low but Harry heard every word.

“This is not the Bible, or the Codex of Merlin. It’s a glorified etiquette manual, a  _ tool _ .  One I would discard if I didn’t need it. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t.”  Harry had never seen Severus’s eyes flash like that, he almost drew his wand, it made him so nervous and had to consciously stop himself stepping backwards.

“Because… without it? I wouldn’t have survived ‘that bastard’ you despised so much. I stand here _ because _ of it. Not in spite of.” Severus snarled, gliding forward, getting in his Alpha’s face.

“You don’t seem all that concerned with what it says right now.” Severus blinked at him and Harry caught the low snarl. “So which is it? Can’t have it both ways.”

“You tell me what I’ve known my _entire_ life is _wrong_ , and now you demand I try to _figure out_ what I want?” Severus snapped back before he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I apologise.”

“No, go on. This is the most honest you’ve ever been with me. Don’t stop now.”

“As you wish,  _ Alpha _ .” The title was snarled like a curse, “You expect me to drop something that is so deeply part of me that I reach for it in  _ every _ situation. Interacting with society, I am always working off  the dictates in that book, I was reciting that book before I had ever seen a Bible or had figured out the spelling of my own  _ name _ .”

Harry ignored the sharp intake of breath from the table behind them. “How much of it do  _ I  _ need to know, for you to function with me? When I am laying down what I expect from you, not what some society  _ rag _ from before the first world war says? Which dictate matters  _ more, _ Severus?”

“Do you not listen, _Potter_? We have already had this conversation. Out there I cannot stray from that, or they will _crucify_ you! That is what they do with saviours they have no further use for.” Harry ignored the amused huff from Hermione. It felt good to hear Severus say that out loud. _Like Catharsis._

“Yeah, and I told you. Let them try. I don’t care.”

“I will _not_ be my mother! I refuse to shame you before society, who will judge you far harsher _because_ of who you are, and _unfortunately for you,_ who I am.” Severus was breathing hard as if he’d run a race.

“Severus? They called me  _ insane _ . They called me a  _ liar _ . They made me the worst criminal out there.  I still have that article Rita wrote where she accused me of killing Cedric somewhere! They sent Hermione undiluted Bubotuber Puss. These people we laid our lives down for, how can you think i still give a  _ damn  _ what they think?” Harry glared. “They owe us some peace, and I’m calling in the debt. It’s the least they can do.”

“And how will  _ our _ children manage, when the world around them wants their  _ parents _ dead?” Severus snarled back. “I will not sentence a child to  _ our _ lives. Not  _ again _ .”

“If you think I’m that stupid what the hell did you put your life in my hands for? You really think I’m stupid enough to send  _ our  _ children here, to  _ Hogwarts _ ? Potter children, with your character and brains? There hasn’t been a Ravenclaw Potter ever, and  _ God  _ help them if they end up in Slytherin. Can you imagine?”

“I can imagine their funerals.” Severus sniped out.

“Exactly. So why didn’t you think I know that? Why didn’t it occur to you that I had already thought of that?”

“Had you?” Silence descended between them **.**

“Any of our children, Severus? Will have half your bloodline. Just as much a chance to land in Slytherin as Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff.”

“There has  _ never _ been a Potter in Slyt--”

“ _ I could have been! _ ” Harry roared  as he threw the book down hard on the table. “If I hadn’t run into Malfoy and taken against him or had Hagrid feeding me the standard propaganda i would have been.” He lifted his hand, finger and thumb held almost touching in front of his face. “ _ This _ close!” Severus had gone ashen again.

Harry just blinked when Severus’ legs folded and he dropped where he stood, going from standing to sitting in an instant.

“Honestly, I want to see how Durmstrang turns out without Karkaroff running it, but  _ no way in hell _ our kids are coming here. I’ll homeschool them first- between the three of us we could give them a decent education.” Harry easily slid into a crouch in front of his omega and then let himself sit.

“Four.” Harry looked up, he’d almost forgotten that Hermione was still in the room. “If you think i’m letting you teach anyone transfiguration theory...” Harry snorted.

“Britain has some pretty twisted views of Dynamic, Harry. I’ve seen the French versions. I actually saw a Bulgarian copy Victor had, with a translation charm on it… and from what I remember? There are sections that don’t even exist in British versions.” Hermione murmured.

“How hard will it be to get copies?”

“Ask your co-Champions, Harry?’ Hermione suggested. Harry made a considering noise. Fleur and Bill were still an item, and Hermione still had contact with Viktor, it wouldn’t be that difficult to do that.

“You want to poke around with  _ foreign _ drivel?” Severus asked, shocked.  Harry fixed him with an almost judgemental look, he’d never really taken Severus for the kind of man who would dismiss foreign ideas purely because they were not English. “They are far too  _ lax _ !” Ah, well, Harry didn’t have to imagine that Severus was strict. That made more sense.

“I want to see how other countries handle the fact we have this kind of dynamics in their systems, and how they function,” Harry argued.

“As you wish.” Severus murmured, dropping his eyes, fight suddenly and simply  _ gone _ from him.

“Severus?” Harry asked, reaching out a cautious hand.

“The very first rule of Dynamics. The Alpha’s will is law.” Severus murmured, sagging back onto his hands. ” _ That _ never changes.”

“Okay, We’re just gonna stay right here, since I don’t think you could get to your feet right now, okay?”

“Yes, Alpha,” Severus responded, leaning sideways just enough to prop himself against the doorjamb.

“Mione? Next item? And Nev? Coffee and tea if you would?” Harry asked. Severus blinked and stared at him.

“You cannot be serious?”

“What?”

“This is how you deal with outright defiance?”

“That was a test?” Harry asked, blinking. Severus nodded slightly. “Why?”

“Harry? You almost went feral when he occluded. Yet you were just growling and mouthing at his neck.” Neville said, putting Harry’s mug into his Alpha’s hands and then passing Severus his coffee.

“So?”

“First rule of surviving,” Severus murmured, “know the parameters, the limits, and the consequences of breaching them. Then decide when it is worth the risk to do so.”

“Spy,” Hermione called from the table. Harry just shook his head.

“He’s right. And I should have recognised it, because I lived it, Mione.” Harry sipped at his tea and pinned his Omega in place with a look. “Again, next item.”

“Clothing.” Hermione read. Severus looked up at Harry in surprise from where he was sat.

“I catch you in those old wrecked work robes again you’ll wish Craven’s cauldron made a bigger bang,” Harry told him pointedly. “And  _ for God’s sake, _ you don’t have to lie to me and tell me your clothes are fine when they’re not.”

“I was estimating their resistance without a student of our Beta’s ineptitude in class, not on the age of the material I was working with.”

“You  _ will  _ let me sort out that wardrobe of yours, before the end of the Christmas hols if we can get into the tailor. And then when I know you only own halfway decent stuff that will keep you safe you wear whatever the hell you want.”

“Yes, Alpha.” Severus murmured before he sipped carefully at his coffee, keeping his eyes down **.**

“Next one, Hermione.” Neville prompted before Harry could.

“Money.” Hermione read, and Harry sighed. Severus fixed him with a look.

“Means nothing to you, Alpha…” Severus offered softly. Harry half smiled and slumped with relief that this one wasn’t going to be a battle. “Another discussion we have already had.”

“And you both tried to argue with me.” Harry pointed out.

“Yeah, well,” Neville cut in softly, “you’re apparently more stubborn than we are.” Harry fixed his Beta with a surprised look.

“Ms Granger… is that list complete yet?”

“Sorry, Professor, but no. Next thing is…”  She trailed off awkwardly for a moment before she straightened up and said coolly. “Property rights, including the issue of wands.”

“That is simple enough. Everything is my Alpha’s.” Severus said.

“Ok, legally yes, at least until I can get Griphook or that Foner woman to write something up to get around it. But no. Just, no.”

“Practically as well, Alpha. Your claim obliterated any rights I had, even my bodily autonomy.“

“ _ Yeah _ , we’ll get to that one in a minute, this first.” Harry paused, this one was complicated. “I didn’t want to claim anything, but you and I know that won’t work.”

The noise that slipped from Severus’ throat was painful, and Harry set his mug aside without thought and scooted over to his Omega to draw him close. “No, little one. You are  _ mine _ . That? I will always acknowledge and claim. But the rest? Just stuff. Things.” Harry pressed his lips to the bruise on his omega’s throat, and nuzzled behind an ear, petting through the dark fall of hair.

“ Your stuff, books, records, newspaper subscription; they’re yours.” Severus hadn’t realised that Harry had understood the way he’d presented the paper. “I won’t take your things from you.” Severus nodded, it was more than he’d expected and although he didn’t want to, he knew he had to ask the next logical question.

“And my wand, Alpha…?” Harry sighed. After the night before and seeing how soothed Severus had been just to be held and let Harry hold his wand he couldn’t just lay down the law that he wouldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t do that to Severus now he understood why his omega needed to be able to hand it over and trust Harry to take it.

“What I had is changing. So… Nev?” Harry looked over at his Beta, and Neville just sighed, got up and brought his tea over and sank down onto the floor. Both Severus and Harry ducked as pillows floated off the sofa and plopped down before all of them, with a fourth joining the odd semi-circle that had started. Hermione huffed, dug out a scrap of paper and transfigured a clipboard before she grabbed her mug and joined the other three on the floor.

“I won’t  _ demand  _ your wand,” Harry said softly, and Severus half smiled as if relieved, “but I wouldn’t refuse it from you either.” Hermione’s scandalised look was met with a pointed stare. “As long as we’re safe,” Harry added, “and no one is under duress.”

Severus blinked, and a hand slid into his sleeve. Harry just sighed.  Severus shot a half-questioning look at Hermione and Harry nodded slightly.

“She’s safe.” Harry murmured softly.

“Harry…”

“Don’t freak out, Hermione, please just trust me.” Hermione made an annoyed sound. “Salmon, remember?”

Severus arched an eyebrow, but when his Alpha shook his head, he lowered it. Harry pushed to his feet and held out his hand. Severus came up to his knees even as he turned over his wand and dipped his head.

When Harry heard Hermione’s indignant noise cut off, he glanced over to see their Beta with a hand over her mouth. “No,  watch .”

Harry returned his attention to Severus. “Very good, Omega-Mine. Eyes up.”

Severus obeyed instantly, and Harry returned his omega’s wand and then retook his seat. Severus settled himself next to his Alpha and Harry watched him shoot a look towards Hermione before he shrugged and leaned against Harry ,  providing a warm weight  as the slightly nervous shakes abated .  Hermione opened her mouth to say something and then closed it.

“I…” She started to say, “Whatever, I don’t want to know what that was... Next thing?” She paused. “Ah, um Harry…”

“Sex or punishment, Mione?” Harry asked, even as Severus twitched then tensed. “Well, the answer is the same to both so…” Harry felt Severus stiffen for a moment.

“Punishment,” Hermione said, managing to keep her voice bland.

“I’d rather not -- at all -- we’re partners. We talk. Ok?” Harry murmured quietly in Severus’s ear. “Nev seems to think that book says you’d normally get all kinds of horrors.” Severus shifted slightly. “I’m not a psychopath, i’m not about to torture you for disagreeing with me.” Severus clenched his fist slightly to stop his hand trembling and nodded mutely, he wasn’t sure he wanted to open his mouth right now in case his stomach upturned again.

A hand ran through his hair, and Severus twitched. “Didn’t I just prove that to you?” Severus managed another nod.

“Do we need to discuss it further, Omega?” Neville asked, eyebrows rising. Severus shook his head.  He didn’t want to discuss it, he didn't want to think about it at all if he could help it. He’d seen first hand what Alphas did to impudent Omega’s and how quickly it broke them. If this was offering him a chance to avoid that? He was going to take it without questioning too deeply.

“Ok, but if it starts to niggle, remember it’s there.” Harry nodded at the paper Hermione had. “That’s the whole point of this after all.” Severus couldn’t quite believe that it had taken so long for him to make that connection and that Alpha had needed to say it outright- that these statements Alpha was demanding they have in writing were for his benefit, something for  _ him  _ to refer to. He felt Alpha shift and lips press down on his neck and realised that he’d absently slipped for a moment. He’d never dared imagine that it was possible to feel this  _ safe  _ with any Alpha.

“Mmh. Mione?” Harry asked as he pushed himself upright again.  “Last ones?”

“Sex and kids,” Hermione answered shortly. Harry coughed slightly. “Okay, consent and kids.”

“Consent kink, Alpha?” Severus quipped, deliberately not looking towards where Ms Granger sat. However, when she coughed tea out of her lungs, his eyes snapped to her, and the airway clearing spell sprang to his lips.

“Thank you, Professor,,” Hermione directed at him the second her airway cleared before she fixed Harry with a knowing look, “another conversation you already had?” Harry shrugged sheepishly.

“A formal conversation, no, Ms Granger. Mentioned repeatedly in passing, however?” Severus shrugged.

‘Kids then?”

“Er,” Neville waved his hand, and Severus glanced at him. Neville pointed at Harry, “he told us what he said,  _ you _ ,” Neville pointed at Severus, “wow. How you didn’t snap completely…” Severus nipped at his bottom lip with his top teeth for a second. “I barely held it together when he said that to  _ me.” _

“Alpha’s will is law, Beta.” Severus murmured. Harry glanced between his Omega and his Beta and wondered how much of that statement could boil down to instinct over training.

“I know, I just, can we cross that bridge when we come to it?” Neville asked, and Harry frowned at him. “You can’t know how your instincts will react and we don’t need to be setting things in stone that just won’t work.”

“Neville? The fact that this got changed here, today? That’s not set in stone. We can always come back to it, rework it as we need to. Or even add to it. This is just the initial document we all agree to.”  Harry paused. “I don’t want to be responsible for all the decisions on my own, I’d have no idea where to start and wondering what Vernon would do and then doing the opposite will only get me so far.”

Severus shuddered and nodded. Neville thought about that for a second and then paled. “Good point. I think we can all agree we have somebody where we all go ‘do the opposite of that’.”

“Which is why we need to work together unless we want to royally fuck up our kids.” Harry pointed out. The other two nodded, and Hermione passed the clipboard and quill towards Severus. He took it and looked up, confused.

“Why have you handed me a quill, Miss Granger? I have no amendments to make.”

“It’s for you to sign it.”

Severus started  and nearly dropped the quill.

“I  _ beg  _ your pardon?”

“What?” Harry asked, head tilted in question.

“You intend me to…  _ sign  _ this?” He couldn’t quite believe that he saw his Alpha nod.

“You have no need of my signature on rules I am to obey, Alpha. The simple fact they exist is enough to enforce them.”

It’s not about  _ enforcing  _ them Omega, this was a negotiation, you contributed so you sign... if you’re happy with the result.” Harry managed to keep his voice light once he’d caught Neville’s warning look. Harry watched Severus twirl the quill between his fingers and sign so quickly he almost missed it until the parchment was passed to him. He couldn’t help smiling, Severus’s signature looked as if he’d been using the name Potter for years rather than days- it flowed naturally.

Harry then took up the quill and paused, realising that Severus had signed further down on the scroll than where Harry would have thought initially. He judged the spacing for a moment and moved his hand up and signed before passing it to Neville. He only smirked when Neville easily fit his signature between his Alpha and his Omega’s own.

Hermione accepted the parchment back and then signed further down before she nodded. They all blinked when the document flashed pale green for a moment and then settled.

“Uh…” Neville asked.

“That  _ was _ a regular quill and regular ink, right, Mione?”  Harry demanded. She only nodded, stunned.

Severus managed a weak laugh. “Binding magical contract… without a blood quill.”

“Why?” Neville finally managed.

“Witness?” Hermione asked, looking at her professor for confirmation.

“We all agreed to the precepts set down. You signed as a witness. It  _ is _ possible. And green simply suggests active binding, not permanent which would have been royal blue.” Severus said.

“So… does it infringe on our magic?”

Severus held up a hand and closed his eyes. Harry glanced at Hermione who only nodded before he closed his own eyes and turned his attention inwards.

When he blinked again, he met his omega’s seeking gaze and shook his head. “Nothing. Sev?”

“I cannot find anything either and you and I, better than perhaps only another Death Eater, would recognise a binding oath. It will not impinge on our magic. It merely will remind us of our agreement.”

“So…” Neville began, “for those of us who haven’t got the experience of this…”

“It should give you a nudge if you get close to a boundary, like an itch you won’t be able to scratch,” Hermione commented.

“So no spots?” Neville asked, and Harry spluttered.

“Not from me!” Hermione declared determinedly as she stood. “Although,” She slung her bag over her shoulder, “don’t test me.” She shot a glare at Harry who ducked his head and smiled.

“Course not Mione,” Harry agreed.

“Oh? Professor? Just so you know? If Harry ever does something that you seriously cannot tolerate? I’m only a Patronus away. And I will stand against him if you ever need me to. You have my word,  _ as your pack _ .” Hermione said before she slipped through the door, leaving all three men staring after her in varying levels of bemusement.

“She’s… not joking.” Neville spoke first. Harry shook his head.

“Considering she didn’t understand pack Dynamics last week and now she’s claiming it, I’d say no, she's not,” Harry commented. “I expect you to take her up on that too, by the way,” Harry added pointedly to Severus. “If you haven’t already buried me yourself.” Severus sighed and leaned closer to his alpha. He sincerely doubted that he’d ever need to send that Patronus if even half the list they had signed were adhered to by all involved. “Alright, come on, before we fall asleep here,” Harry started to say, and Severus made a sound like someone had trodden on a snake. Harry frowned.

“Sleep next week,” Severus growled out.

“Why next week?” Harry asked even as he pulled Neville to his feet and helped Severus up absently.

“Far too dangerous to sleep during the season,” Severus muttered even as he took a mouthful of the coffee he’d been cradling and waiting to cool. Harry reached for it.

“Severus, there’s no danger for you anymore.” Harry reminded him softly, and Severus glared at him before his frown lifted slowly with realisation. “If you’re that worried I’ll sit up while you sleep.” Harry offered.

“No offence Harry, but you’re dead on your feet too.” Harry shrugged, Neville wasn’t wrong and judging by the fact that he was already starting to get aroused he’d burned through the suppressor at a record rate. “You can both sleep, I’m not hormonal, and I have things to do anyway, I’ll sit up and watch while you two sleep.” Harry fixed his Beta with a concerned look. “It’ll be fine, you two need some quiet time to unwind anyway if you plan on trying to get through next week without any major blow-ups.”

Harry laughed softly even as Severus snorted disbelievingly, he’d given up on next week being quiet and had decided that surviving it should be considered a win.

Neville had to take Harry’s glasses off for him after he’d fallen asleep, and Severus never did finish that cup of coffee- but it really didn’t matter; because Neville was still smiling at the image of them curled up like a pair of puppies in a basket long after they finally woke for lunch.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be warned this chapter makes explicit refrence to homophobia, biphobia, chauvinism and misogyny (internalised and from other people) and Harry's childhood with the Dursley's. It's not graphic and there are no slurs used, but some of the stuff they all say in this chapter is still fairly vicious.

Severus only frowned as he watched his Beta fidget for the third time in less than five minutes. He’d woken before Alpha, with his body putting up less of a struggle with no suppressor to battle and had decided to catch up on his marking. He gave the younger man a quick head to toe inspection and blinked as he looked away. Ah. That explained it. 

Severus felt the tension settle into his shoulders. Alpha was… Severus paused. It was only he and Beta awake in quarters… and Neville was aroused. Severus returned to his grading, eyeing the remainder of first-year essays. Twenty minutes for the lot, if Beta didn’t decide to drag him over the desk and use him for relief.

He set an essay aside and reached for another, skimming the contents and snorting before he began writing. He set the quill back into the holder when his Beta looked up from the book he’d been attempting to read.

“Severus?”

“Beta?” Severus asked, folding his hands on the desk, and giving his attention to his Alpha’s second. Severus glanced over when the bedroom door opened and started to nudge back his chair to rise when Alpha only shook his head. Severus dipped his head obediently and returned his attention to his Beta, idly noting that Alpha was dressed in Quidditch leathers.

“I think I get why Harry said I’m a switch. How do you define yourself?”

“In terms of that book? Submissive. Omegas are by nature meant to be taken.” Severus responded, trying to push back the unease that was nipping at his instincts.

“Meant to be… that doesn’t suggest you think yourself such.”

“Omega. Last. Breedable. Bitch.” Severus tossed the last word out with a huff but knowing he could use it -- Alpha only got riled if Severus used the term whore. Severus was vaguely aware of Alpha huffing on his way out the door to the Gryffindor Sunday mid-morning practice he’d taken on the habit of overseeing. Neville watched Harry leave after a round of hasty goodbyes. 

“So… does it make me a Bitch then? Because we both know what it feels like when Harry’s focus is only on you. Or when he’s nipping at your neck, because he’s almost mindless with the need to rut.”

Severus managed to smother most of the low noise. He flushed through when he realised not only was the suggestion making him hard, it was also making him slick. Neville just arched an eyebrow and offered an easy smile.

“He can be rather intense.” Severus agreed,”However, small portions of the Beta population prefer their own gender and sex without having a preference to top or bottom fixed. This is how that book defines a switch.” 

“Yeah, I got that. But Harry?”

“Due to the quirk of genetics that makes him Alpha, he is a top. Alpha blood refuses to submit. Ugly statistic? A male Alpha’s magic will kill all who try and violate them. It is why Alpha Children, even before maturation are not abused in that particular fashion. Their magic saves them that indignity. The only time I ever watched a male alpha submit in that way was under the darkest of potions and with the Dark Lord subsuming the man’s magic and will. He killed himself two days later.”

“Oh.” Neville stared at the book before him and then looked up at Severus again. “Can an Omega male top?”

“Yes. I’ve witnessed it happen. It was part of the reason that Alpha destroyed himself. He couldn’t stomach the shame of it.”

“Oh. What are your views on it?”

“It?” Severus turned the question back at his Beta.

“Sex.”

“It has led men to kill, it drives men to drink, drives Alphas insane and to violence… and has killed countless omegas down the centuries. Sex presents in a myriad of potential forms. I enjoy my Alpha’s attentions, and by extension, yours as well because I have permission to do so.” 

“If you didn’t, have permission that is?” 

“I would have killed you. I know my place, Beta. I belong to Potter. I am his. It was only because he opened the dance and countenanced it that I was able to relax and let you lead.” 

"Regardless of what you think or want, you really would just do whatever he leads you to, wouldn't you?" Neville was staring at him.

"This is not an established fact yet?" Severus asked pointedly.

“You were a spy, the Headmaster, you are a Potions Master… how can you cast all of that aside?”

“Because in the blood? I am omega, Longbottom. Miss Granger and our Alpha are correct. To serve underlies everything else. If he is happy? I am content. Because as long as he is happy? He will care for me to at least a reasonable standard.”

“You do realise Harry’s standard of reasonable is to pamper us both, right?” Neville quipped. Severus blinked but nodded.

"Maybe that's what I don't understand, why is that your main goal? You're more than capable of caring for yourself- mostly." Severus glanced up at the last word and caught beta eyeing him critically. "You just don't."

“I didn’t bother during the war -- either of them. Simply, if I fell into the hands of an Alpha during that period? I would be dead under the Dark Lord -- because I would be useless to him, my Alpha be damned.” Severus steepled his fingers.

“Now? It is the habit of a lifetime. Neglecting to eat, pushing myself as far as I can before exhaustion catches me in its snare, it is my accustomed behaviour. The only difference? I now simply have to obey my Alpha’s voice. So long as I am able to provide him with an Heir and perform whatever he asks of me to an acceptable standard -- by his judgement -- then, I am useful.” 

"He's an eighteen-year-old Gryffindor, you're the head of Slytherin House, you can't tell me that doesn't rankle you just a little bit." Neville wasn't sure why he was pushing this so hard, but he needed to understand.

“You call him Alpha… out of behaviour modification cues. It is natural off my tongue. My second instinct is to call him by his last name because I will not shame him or disgrace myself by thinking I have the right to use his familiar name. His age matters little in this. He is Alpha, he leads, I obey. Even you do that, Beta.”

“No. Unless it is formal or necessity driving it, I am Neville to you, Professor. Here? Now? You can use my name.” Severus opened his mouth then closed it before he glanced down at his hands for somewhere to look. Sometimes he marvelled at the situations he found himself in

“I find myself at odds hearing my title from you within these quarters. You are my Beta. Alpha’s Right Hand. You always had the ability to use my name, unless Alpha required something else?” Severus dropped his gaze to the desk, pondering why he even had to offer it, he was an Omega.

“Thank you. Now, do you intend to make my job harder, make it harder on yourself to conceive when you and Harry decide to have a baby? You need sleep, Severus. You need to eat, regularly and frequently.”

"I have survived for almost forty years on a steady diet of little more than nothing and an average of three hours sleep a night where available. I am not yet dead. I see no reason to accustom myself to more than the barest necessities for survival when it is a matter of time before I must return to existing upon them." Neville blinked.

"I, what?"

"How frequently does a newborn sleep uninterrupted for the first several months of life?"

Neville stared.

"there are three of us..." Severus snorted softly.

"Even so, You and I both know that an Alpha's instinct will be largely sated by the birth of male issue, I see no reason to become attached with that inevitable eventuality on the horizon."

“And if I wanted a child on you?” Neville asked, raising an eyebrow, the book largely forgotten in his lap.

“Then there would be at least a year, if not two, between the birth of Alpha’s issue and my catching with your own heir, Beta. Simply recovery time due to my age and relative health, provided there are no complications. Omegas simply aren’t that fertile again so soon after first birth.”

"But..."

"It typically takes two to three years to regain that level of fertility. Perhaps it is a survival instinct?" Severus mused.

"I'm still not hearing you say what you want in all of this." Neville pointed out, he'd asked that to get a reaction, and the lack of one had made him nervous.

"Survival, Longbottom. Surely you can grasp that? Of course, should Alpha ever tire of me, I am aware he can successfully cast all three unforgivables."

Neville couldn't help the wince and hiss that escaped him that Severus could say something like that so bluntly. "Yeah," Neville muttered, "He'll go through me first." Severus blinked and stared, it took him several seconds to process that declaration.

"You cannot be serious?" Severus had never seen Neville Longbottom more serious in his life.

"Let me tell you something about the Harry I fell in love with, he'd rather someone put him down than give him the chance to raise his wand to you like that. Not to mention," Neville hesitated, he had to be careful how he put this, "we," he waved between them carefully, "have something of a way between us, I'm not about to let him hurt you if I can help it."

“Beta… if it came to the choice of him tiring of me and being rut to death or beg him to kill me quickly? I will take the quick route. I care not if it marks me a coward, I have watched others die that way. It is not a pretty or quick death.”

"I'm going to make a suggestion... just a suggestion..." Neville started to say, "stop judging him like every other Alpha out there, he's not like them," Neville sighed at the disbelieving look Severus fixed him with. "I'm telling you, I don't know what it is; maybe he's just seen too much violence already, but he doesn't have that instinct to terrorise the way they do. He'd rather you took that blade you carry and slit his throat than harm you. When he tells you to fight back? He's not taunting you or trying to trap you. He's just... he's different."

“Any omega that lifts a hand to their Bonded? Is dead. A Beta can fight back physically, can defend… omega cannot. Unless a child is in the balance.” Neville started to open his mouth, and Severus held up a hand. “No. I have watched omegas tricked into striking back. If the Alpha didn’t destroy them? They sickened. Their magic twisted back on them, and they died screaming, Beta.”

“How?”

“The Dark Lord was cruel. I considered myself fortunate not to be bonded. And I would have killed any Alpha that tried a second time to chase me. Being considered the Dark Lord’s pet, spared me that.”

“Ew. No, seriously, ew!”

“He never was inclined in that manner, thank Merlin. Simply kept me by his chair, always to his left, in the proper place for an Omega.” Severus said.

“So, that’s why Harry has such a problem with you kneeling to him. You know he could see meetings. He can’t tolerate you on your knees the way you were for Voldemort.” Neville said.

“If I had been any other Omega?”

“I think he still would have had flickers of seeing you on your knees. Which would have made it disconcerting for him. Any Omega kneeling to him puts his back up. However? Because it is you? It sets him off.” Severus opened his mouth to protest, and Neville shook his head, sharply, “Because I think all he can think of is you in danger, and him unable to protect you. And that is still an Alpha’s greatest instinct -- to protect.”

“Perhaps.” Severus murmured before he turned his attention back to the essays and Neville returned to the book in his lap.

As the scent of arousal intensified, he forced himself to sit still and concentrate. When he finished the last essay, he laid aside his quill, capped the ink, and eyed his Beta with some concern. He was on edge because he’d scented Alpha’s in that state before. It was never pretty for any that the Alpha in question fixed their attention on, bruised and bleeding was the best case.

Severus remained at his desk, not wanting to draw attention to himself, knowing if he moved, the Alpha would be on him in seconds. He took a shallow breath and stilled completely as he registered the metallic edge that had cut into the scent. He closed his eyes and bit back any noise he would have made.

“Come here, Severus?”

Severus obeyed, realising it was an order. Especially with that edge in the arousal. He forced himself not to drop to his knees, knowing --somehow-- it would anger the Alpha. He kept his head down, eyes to the ground.

“What would you think about going and laying down for a bit… just the two of us?” 

The voice was wrong, but the scent edge was need -- and need could turn violent so quickly. No wonder Severus’s instincts were struggling to differentiate between the Beta in need and the second-hand scent of their alpha on him. Severus nodded, acquiescing to the command.

He went to the correct door, opened it, and stepped through. Yet he paused by the bed, knowing assumptions could get him hurt, so he waited. He went when he was tugged down into tangled sheets that smelled safe.

When he was tugged into an embrace, his back to the one holding him, he bit his tongue to keep from making noise. He flinched when he registered that a leg was pressing between both of his. He went still when he realised he was lying on a bed with an aroused male holding him.

“Shh, Severus.” The command was softly voiced, and Severus closed his eyes and bit down on his tongue again, realising that he’d been making little noises. “Hush, Omega. Nothing you aren’t comfortable with. Just going to hold you until I calm down.”

“As you wish.” Severus managed, expecting the arms around him to slide down and begin working at getting his trousers open. When that didn’t happen, Severus found he was able to breathe again. He jerked when one arm curled low around his hips while the other slid away. He went still and compliant and then a hand slipped into his hair and began stroking.

Several minutes passed, and Severus just listened to the man that held him breathe. Then his Beta spoke. “Is it… strange… in the muggle world, for a bloke to actually like being fucked by another bloke?”

“No. Some men just prefer their own gender exclusively. Alpha may be the better choice to discuss muggle viewpoint, as he has had more recent experience in the muggle world than I have, Beta. He will not judge you for such a thing -- as he is drawn to you in a sexual sense. Nor will I, for I can hardly protest the fact I am drawn to our Alpha in the same way.” 

“Oh. Were you ever interested in… well… women?”

“No. I have not been.”

“But Harry’s mother…”

“Was my best friend. Same as Miss Granger is for Alpha.” 

“Oh.” Severus leaned into the hand that was still trailing through his hair while his Beta digested that.

“What would you think...of me… if … well… I wanted you to top me?” Neville managed the last in a rush. Severus’ eyes popped open, and he sucked in a breath even as the arm around his hips became immovable. 

Severus lay still for several seconds, just letting the words register, and then he spoke. “I would think… it would have to be taken carefully. And treated as an experiment. It may not end up to either of our tastes.” 

“All right.” Neville heaved a sigh against the back of his neck, and the hand in his hair continued its slow, repetitive movements.

-

“Har, you had about four different owls today. None of them were howlers, so I left you to sleep, but you probably should have a look.” Neville commented over lunch. Harry nodded. 

“Any idea about who they’re from?”

“One from Gran, one from your solicitor, that one,” Neville pointed, “has the Malfoy seal on it so not sure if father or son,” Harry took it and handed it to Severus to glance over the address on the envelope.

“Younger, Lucius does not mangle his P’s so thoroughly with a quill.” 

“No idea who that last one is from.” Harry looked at the handwriting and noted the lack of a formal seal.

“Er… Missus Weasley.” Harry managed weakly. “I… you think she’s seen Friday’s paper?” Neville glanced up from his plate. “Probably lucky it’s not a howler if she has.” Harry turned the letter over and opened it absently. He was halfway through reading and had just muttered to himself that he was in trouble when Neville finally asked.

“Er, why?”

“Nev, I got into a relationship, and it hit the paper before I told her.” Neville blinked. 

“That wasn’t your fault…” Harry fixed Neville with a sceptical look. Severus cleared his throat softly, and Harry glanced at him.

“You have an opinion on this?” Severus tilted his head and sat back in his chair slowly as if considering his words carefully.

“Having met and spent enough time around Mrs Weasley to understand your concern Alpha…” Severus glanced at Neville and then back to Harry, “with all due respect to her and yourself…” Harry’s eyebrows shot up at the tone of Severus’s delivery giving away that he was about to say something he considered would be highly inflammatory, “She is not your mother…” 

Harry bit back a hard retort in favour of a considering sound as he realised that he too was hesitating on how to word his response.

“In blood? No. But… she’s taken that role so often it’s hard not to think of her that way. I’m going to be scolded for hiding this, same as Charlie was when he was dating Angel something three years ago, and she had to find out because the Twins asked him about her… and she overheard.” Harry slouched in his seat and just groaned.

“Surely she understands that your case is not in the same league?” Severus pointed out.

“No, my case is plastered across the papers and I haven’t denied it so by now she’ll know for certain it’s true. God help me.” Harry muttered as he finished reading the letter with a wince. 

“Will it help or hurt if I go see her with you?”

“Even odds we both get yelled at then stuffed full of food. She won’t take issue with it being, well, you, Nev. She’ll take issue that I hid it from the Pack. she’ll think that I was ashamed or something -- far as she could tell.” 

“Because you are muggle raised, Alpha. She would be concerned you had absorbed some of the unsavoury notions that some muggles have about same-gendered relationships.” 

“You know what Vernon’s like, I heard enough of his rants over the years. Men with long hair, men in pink, gay men shouldn’t be in schools, I’ve heard them all and walked out of them too- which is why I never let on to any of them about any of this. I can just imagine how Petunia would have reacted. Magic she could live with, but this? Me in the same house as her precious little Diddums?” Harry snorted, “And I had no idea how the Weasley’s would take it, at least Bill and Ron can say they’re built to end up with other blokes and can still have kids.”

“Harry? Isn’t Bill’s Alpha a male?”

“Well, yeah… but… neither of them has a male Beta...” Harry trailed off weakly and shrugged.

Severus shook his head, glanced at their Beta and got a nod in reply. He vacated his chair and quietly retreated from the room. Harry set down the letter and frowned.

“Okay… what?”

“Harr? You basically just implied… go after him. He can explain it better than I can. Just be prepared for him yelling at you.” 

“Nev, seven years I’ve been in this world I’ve never seen two men in a relationship openly so don’t sit there and tell me wizards are somehow more open and accepting- I know it’s not true. The Weasley’s took me in and showed me what a family looked like, I think I’m entitled to worry they’ll freak out if they think-” Harry cut off abruptly. “Even if they expect me to take an Omega, which they do, I don’t think they were expecting that to mean I wasn’t going to marry a woman too.” 

“Ah… Harry? Most Alpha-Omega pairs? Don’t have a third… male or female. You are kind of odd in that. But those that do? The beta tends to be a female. Not sure if that is a social convention or personal preferences. And Harr? I’m the weird one. Not you. Alpha instinct is to protect and propagate the genetics. Betas… well, either we marry a female of the same status … or well, we marry a female of the same status.” Neville shrugged and looked away.

“Nev? You aren’t weird.”

“Switch. That’s considered weird. Even Severus isn’t sure what to do about me… or maybe that’s with me?” Neville shrugged, trying to ignore it. “And? Go talk to your Omega before he works himself up into a state because you just implied he’s nothing more than breedable property, and he’s going to be pissed at you for that.” 

“How the hell did I imply that? What I meant was that Molly would take them bringing blokes home because she’s raised them to know that that’s inevitable anyway….” Harry trailed off as he realised how it might have sounded to someone who hadn’t grown up listening to Vernon and his rather graphic descriptions of what he wanted to do to men who had the sheer audacity to think that they had any choice but to marry a woman and produce children. 

Harry eyed the closed office door and took a deep breath before he stepped up and knocked. He twitched when he was called to enter and then did so. The fulminating glare Severus pinned him with made him sigh.

“Okay, first off, sorry?” Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Vernon is a homophobic old bastard and Petunia does as he tells her. Apparently, I internalised some of it?” 

“Enough that you are concerned about introducing your male paramour to your pack,” Severus said, keeping his voice soft, even as rage flickered through his gaze.

“I bring you to the burrow, they welcome you with open arms and Molly feeds you and knits you a jumper. She’ll start bugging me about kids. That’s how that goes. That I can handle, that I have every right to tell her is none of her business and that we’re getting to know each other first. She’ll even support that because she’s got two Omega sons of her own who she’s raised to find themselves Alphas who don’t want to use them as breeding stock. I bring Nev… I… I don’t know how that goes. I just don’t.”

“You will have to figure out how to handle the sidelong glances of the like Miss Granger gave when she realised our Beta had permission to touch me in such a familiar manner, and what that implied.”

“Unlike Hermione, the Weasley’s aren’t going to assume your hormones turned you into a completely mindless golem,” Harry shot back, “they know you well enough to know that you’d castrate me if I tried to force you into anything. They don’t have to know any different if that’s not the case.”

“Wrong. You are an Alpha. I am your omega. Your word is law. You lead, I follow. You will have to decide how to handle the implication.” 

“Please don’t say that in front of Charlie, he fights Dragons for a living; I can’t take him in a fistfight if he decides I’m just another arsehole Alpha after all that time he spent telling me how not to be. Not to mention what George would do to me- I’ll never be able to eat safely again.” 

“You consider them as enemies in a battle on this issue.” Severus pointed out shortly. 

“Because if they even think I’m treating you as anything less than a partner? You wouldn’t have to worry about being bonded to me for very long.” Harry’s face was grave.

“They are your pack.”

“Molly Weasley didn’t raise fools, Severus. If I am not up to their standards on this? Alpha or no, Defeater or no… George, Arthur, and Charlie will drag me out behind the shed and make me.” Harry slumped. “My only experience of Dynamics is them, and Molly’s idea of training her Omega sons was to follow them into battle, support them playing quidditch, and letting the oldest run off to be a curse breaker.” 

“I follow your lead, Alpha. I will not shame you before your family.”

“Severus, you won’t shame me. No matter what you do. You may surprise me at times? But… twenty years of life experience, I expect to be surprised every now and again by you.” Harry sighed. “I’m just uncertain as to what I am walking into there. You are the expected outcome. Neville is a wild spell. I don’t know if it’s going to blow up in our faces or work perfectly. Plus I didn’t tell her myself, which means I’m already for it.” 

“They adore you, they followed you into a war,” Severus commented.

“I dated their daughter, and she followed me into basically forming a terrorist group.” Harry sighed. “Maybe I can see Mrs Weasley when she’s not holding a frying pan?”

“You fear she would become violent?” Severus asked carefully. 

“Petunia did. Vernon did. Can’t exactly help anticipating something that already happened once, can I?” Severus stared at him. “They were trying to beat the magic out of me, god only knows what they’d have done if they thought they had to beat me straight too.”

Severus opened his mouth and then closed it. 

“My mother took great care to ensure that neither my father nor his muggle acquaintances were aware of the nature of magical dynamics.” he offered quietly, and Harry’s eyes snapped to him. “Wizards and muggles are alike, in that their priority is always the propagation of the population.” 

“And those that don’t breed are unnatural, perverted, and sick and shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near decent people’s kids?” Harry snapped, then blinked, horrified to hear Vernon’s words come from his mouth. “Now you show me where I’ve got any evidence that the Weasley’s don’t think the same way.”

“Simply the fact that it is known that some Beta males prefer to pair to Alpha males. Some see it as a potential birth control method, though one rarely practised if the Alpha’s tastes do not run in that direction.” 

“And when they do? Neville just called himself weird when he mentioned it. This is the one area of our lives that you don’t need protecting from unless you fear being smothered, coddled and overfed, but me and Nev- we just might.”

“Beta seems conflicted about what he wants from me.” Severus looked away and shook his head when Harry opened his mouth to ask a question. Harry closed it again, feeling that if it were important, Severus would tell him… but would otherwise protect Neville’s secrets.

“Is it something that would set off my instincts?”

“Not in a violent or possessive manner,” Severus responded, still not meeting his Alpha’s gaze.

“Can it hurt you or Neville?” Harry asked.

“No more than any other intimate activity between an Omega and a Beta male,” Severus answered.

“Then, that’s between the two of you, unless you want me involved.” 

“I…” Severus wouldn’t look Harry in the eye.

“Severus?” 

“I would be lying…” Severus started to say, “If I attempted to claim that I would not prefer your presence, Alpha.” He paused. “For my own peace of mind.”

Harry understood well enough what it had cost Severus to admit that, so he didn’t push for an explanation and just nodded.

-

“Don’t tear my head off, but-“ Neville finally said as the clock ticked past eight. “We probably shouldn’t be seen leaving for breakfast from the dungeons in the morning…” Harry looked up, he’d spent the last hour curled up with Severus on the sofa while his omega did something he called crocheting. He said it was a hobby and calmed him but so far all he’d done was a lot of counting and a little cursing. 

“You mean?” Harry asked, surprised. 

“Harry we’ve been away from the dorm room since Thursday, the paper meant we had a few days to be disappearing off at night, but unless you want this news breaking this week, we have to be more careful.” Harry sighed tiredly and buried his face in Severus’s collar, nosing at his neck regretfully, and Severus set down the blanket he’d been working on. 

“Will you be alright down here?” Harry asked softly, and Severus let out a short laugh.

“It is not the first night I have ever spent alone.” He pointed out, and Harry smiled in slight amusement.

“Ask a stupid question?” He asked, and Severus ducked his head to hide the smirk. 

“It’s just your instincts, Har, you’ll get over yourself next week once the season is over,” Neville commented. 

Harry huffed out a self-aware laugh. 

“Alright, but we’re only a Patronus away, ok?” Severus nodded, and Harry limited himself to stealing one last kiss before he left with Neville.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long silence, we've had all kinds of niggles to work out and then i went and got hit my a car (I'm ok now) so couldn't really sit at a computer for very long to edit and upload this until now. We should be back to regular-ish schedule now but no promises that life won't thow another curveball at me from somewhere.
> 
> To the person who binged this fic and whose reviews I haven't replied to, you know who you are, *thank you* so much for your kind words in every one of those reviews, please know that we both read all of them and were cheering you on even as you were reading some of the later chapters! I thought you'd rather have a new chapter than a bunch of replies to read (I hope so, anyway).

**Author's Note:**

> All characters are over sixteen, which is to say, of the age of consent in the UK.


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